Anglo Dutch food to detergent group Unilever said on Thursday it expects a slow start in 2017 because of tough market conditions.

Unilever said it had booked underlying sales growth of 3.7% last year. ‘This is ahead of our markets, with price up 2.8% and volume up 0.9%,’ the company said in a statement.

Nevertheless, ‘the tough market conditions which made the end of the year particularly challenging are likely to continue in the first half of 2017. Against this background, we expect a slow start with growth improving as the year progresses,’ chief executive Paul Polman said.

Full year turnover fell 1% to €52.7bn while net profit was up 5.5% at €5.5bn. All four product segments showed ‘good progress’ against their strategic priorities, the company said.