UNA Unilever PLC

By Carlo Martuscelli

Unilever PLC (ULVR.LN) said Thursday that 2018 pretax profit surged 52%, handily beating analyst forecasts, but it warned of a difficult year ahead.

The consumer goods-company said in 2018 it made a profit before tax of 12.38 billion euros ($14.16 billion) compared with EUR8.15 billion a year earlier. Analysts had forecast a profit EUR8.81 billion according to a FactSet consensus figure. It reported an underlying operating margin of 18.4%, an increase of 90 basis points on the year before.

Unilever, owner of the Hellmann's mayonnaise, Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream brands, said turnover decreased 5.1% to EUR50.98 billion in 2018--below the EUR51.11 billion predicted by analysts. Unilever attributed the decrease to the sale of its spreads bushiness as well as currency headwinds.

Underlying sales growth was 2.9%, or 3.1% when excluding the sold-off spreads unit. This adjusts for inflationary price growth from Venezuela and Argentina.

The Anglo-Dutch company said it expects market conditions to remain challenging in 2019. Underlying sales growth will be in the lower half of its 3% to 5% multiyear guidance range. However, it said it expects continued improvement in its underlying operating margin as well as strong free cash flow.

"We remain on track for our 2020 goals," it said.

The FTSE 100-listed company declared a dividend of EUR0.3872 in the fourth quarter.

Write to Carlo Martuscelli at carlo.martuscelli@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 31, 2019 02:41 ET (07:41 GMT)

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