Global. Unilever said growth in its third quarter had been hit by poor weather in Europe and the hurricanes in the Americas. Unilever had a sale increased 2.6% compare with the same quarter 2016, sales in emerging markets rose 6.3%, but fell 2.3% in developed markets.

Unilever hit by weather in Europe and hurricanes in the Americas Anglo-Dutch group sees recovery in demand from emerging markets Read next fastFT Matthew Vincent Opening Quote: Unilever ‘Connected 4 Growth’; LSE’s Rolet says C U L8R Unilever shares have risen 32% in the year to date, in the wake of the Kraft Heinz bid and a promise of €6bn of savings © Bloomberg Share on Twitter (opens new window) Share on Facebook (opens new window) Share on LinkedIn (opens new window) 1 Save to myFT 6 HOURS AGO by Scheherazade Daneshkhu in London Unilever, the consumer goods group that fought off a $143bn takeover bid from Kraft Heinz this year, said growth in its third quarter had been hit by poor weather in Europe and the hurricanes in the Americas. However, the Anglo-Dutch group behind Dove soap, Magnum ice cream and Lipton tea said on Thursday that it was seeing a recovery in demand from some of its biggest emerging markets. Underlying sales — excluding mergers and acquisition activity and at constant currencies — increased 2.6 per cent on the same quarter last year to €13.2bn. That was below consensus expectations of 3.9 per cent growth and the first-half’s 3 per cent rise in underlying sales. Sales in emerging markets — where Unilever makes 57 per cent of its revenues — rose 6.3 per cent, but fell 2.3 per cent in developed markets. The group stuck to its full-year outlook of 3-5 per cent organic growth. Paul Polman, chief executive, said: “While conditions in our developed markets remain challenging, we are starting to see signs of improvement in some of our biggest emerging markets including India and China. “Growth in the third quarter was adversely affected by poorer weather in Europe compared with last year and natural disasters in the Americas.” Shares in Unliever have risen 32 per cent in the year to date, in the wake of the Kraft Heinz bid and after the company promised €6bn of savings to boost profit margins from last year’s 16 per cent to 20 per cent by 2020, and a €5bn share buyback. The deadline for the first round of bids for its spreads business — mainly margarines such as Flora/Becel — is due today. Interest from private equity groups has been high and Unilever last month sold its spreads unit in South Africa. Darren Shirley, analyst at Shore Capital, said: “We see little in today’s update to take the shares on from current levels, indeed we anticipate the share will come under pressure today. However, we remain positive on Unilever prospects over the medium to long term.” Describing the quarter as “weak”, analysts at Liberum said: “Since the Kraft-Heinz bid, shares have rallied. While more aggressive earnings per share growth underpins the shares, failure to deliver on lifted expectations could lead to a pullback. In addition, the company has set bold margin targets that could be unsustainable in the long run. In our view, the risk/reward outlook for the shares is now more balanced.”