In the 4th quarter of 2015, the Anglo-Dutch group Unilever (AS: UNc) increased its revenues (excluding the impact of foreign exchange differences) by 4.9% due to growth in sales by 1.9% and increase in prices by 2.9%.
Revenues totaled 12.9 billion euro, said the Anglo-Dutch group.
For the year, the company's revenue rose 4.1% due to sales growth by 2.1% and price increase by 1.9%. Due to the positive effect of changes in exchange rates, Unilever's turnover grew for the year by 10% to 53.3 billion euro.
Unilever revenues in developing countries in 2015 rose 7.1% (excluding changes in exchange rates) due to increase in prices by 4.3% and an increase in sales by 2.7%. The dynamic in many emerging markets remains weak, especially in countries that depend on exports of oil and other commodities, where devaluation contributed to the increase in the cost of living for consumers, the company said.
In developed markets, Unilever's revenue for the year showed a zero trend: sales growth (1.2%) was offset by lower prices.
For the macro-region Asia, Africa, Middle East, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, which accounted for 22.4 billion euro turnover for the year, Unilever revenues increased by 4.6% due to higher sales (by 3%) and higher prices (1.5%).
In Russia, Unilever has reduced sales as consumer demand was under pressure due to high inflation, however, dynamics improved during the year.
In Europe, the company's revenue last year rose 0.3%, in North and South America was up 6.6%.
Unilever's operating profit in 2015 fell 6% (including the effect of exchange rate differences) to 7.5 billion euro; net profit fell 5% to 5.26 billion euro.
Net debt rose to 11.5 billion euro from 9.9 billion euro at the end of 2014.
The Anglo-Dutch group Unilever operates in more than 100 countries. The company manufactures products under the brands of Knorr, Hellmann's, Lipton, Dove, Vaseline, Omo, Cif, Signal and Domestos.
Unilever Global revenues in 2014 rose 2.9% (excluding exchange-rate factors).