Anglo-Dutch food to detergent group Unilever has bucked the trend by reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results, and beating the performance of peers such as Nestle.

Underlying sales rose almost 6%, just beating analysts forecasts, boosted by 12.1% sales growth in emerging markets. In mature markets, such as western Europe, sales were down 0.8%.
Net sales rose over 10% to €13.4bn.
‘This consistent performance, despite continued high levels of competitive intensity, depressed economies and increasing global imbalances and uncertainty, shows the Unilever transformation is well on track,’ chief executive Paul Polman said in a statement.