It should have been a good news day for Anglo-Dutch food giant Unilever PLC (LON:ULVR), after posting better than expected quarterly sales figures.
But the media questions for boss Paul Polman are unlikely to be about the figures.
For the maker of Marmite and Pot Noodle is embroiled in a spat with one of its biggest customers, which has prompted the Daily Mail to launch a front-page tirade accusing it of Brexit Blackmail.
For Tesco has stopped stocking Unilever products online in reaction to being asked to hike prices by 10% by Unilever, which is trying to mitigate the impact of a week pound.
Unfortunately, the media backlash was not restricted to the Mail, although one suspects there is more to come from the mid-market guardian of nation’s values.
Anyway, here for the record, are those figures.
Prices up, volumes down
Unilever’s sales grew 3.2% to €13.4bn in the third quarter, giving a nine-month total €39.7bn (up 4.2%). According the financial news group Reuters, the numbers were slightly ahead of expectations.
Volumes were down 0.4%, while prices rose 3.6%.
"Our business continues to demonstrate its resilience by growing competitively and consistently in tough market conditions,” said Polman.
Whether it was the spat with Tesco, or something not immediately apparent in the figures, investors weren’t impressed.
Shares down, City split
The shares fell around 4%, wiping nearly £900mln from the value of the business.
Broker Liberum repeated its 'sell' recommendation and said on a price to earnings multiple of more than 20 times, Unilever’s valuation looks stretched.
Counter-balancing Liberum was Shore Capital, which repeated is ‘buy’. “We continue expect Unilever to be a medium-term winner in global fast-moving consumer goods,” said analyst Darren Shirley.
Seven of the 12 analysts polled by the Broker Forecasts site are in the ‘buy’ camp, with only one ‘seller’ of the stock. The remainder hold ‘neutral’ recommendations.