Unilever PLC reported higher quarterly sales growth but warned its profit margin would fall sharply this year as the owner of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream grapples with the impact of surging costs around the world.
The bearish outlook comes as the consumer-goods giant is already under pressure from investors to accelerate growth. That pressure has intensified in recent weeks following a much criticized, and now aborted, $68 billion bid for GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s consumer-healthcare business, and news that activist investor Trian Fund Management LP had taken a stake in the company.
