Unilever has 4thq sales weaker than expected

The consumer goods giant Unilever reported an increase in sales in the fourth quarter less than expected due to emerging markets weak, putting a disappointing end to the year harder than industry in recent times.
The maker of Dove soaps and Lipton tea said on Tuesday that sales excluding the impact of the entire Exchange, acquisitions or divestitures rose 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter. Analysts expected, on average, an increase of 2.6 percent.
Following a dramatic weakening in emerging markets last year that led to Unilever to obtain your weaker third quarter in five years, the growth of the company's sales growth of 2014 closed 2.9 percent, compared with analysts ' estimate of a 3.1 percent advance.
The company said that growth had remained weak in emerging markets, where economic pressures were impacting consumer demand. Developed markets remained stable, with a modest resumption in North America being partly overshadowed by a shrinking market in Europe.
"We didn't plan a significant improvement of market conditions in 2015," said Chief Executive Paul Polman. "In this context, we hope that our performance for the entire year should be similar to that from 2014, with the first quarter being weaker, but with growth improving during the year." The operating profit of the year was, however, slightly above estimates, at 7.02 billion euros, compared with a forecast of 6.9 billion euros, helped by cost cuts.
More than half of Unilever's sales occur in emerging markets, and they were hit by a confluence of events that included a slowdown in China, a recession in Brazil and the West's sanctions against Russia.