Unilever provided an update today (via Yahoo):
Unilever PLC, the maker of consumer products such as Dove soaps and Magnum ice cream, says sales rose 7.8 percent to €12.6 billion ($16.8 billion) in the fourth quarter thanks to strong demand in developing economies, the company’s biggest market in 2012.
Along with the fourth-quarter figures, the company reported full-year net profit was up 4.5 percent to €4.25 billion, on sales that were 10.5 percent higher to €51.3 billion.
The company said Wednesday it improved full-year profit margins by 0.3 percentage points to 13.8 percent, despite higher commodity costs, by hiking prices, cutting costs, and selling more higher-margin products.
The margin improvement is impressive for a company of Unilever’s size, especially amid a weak global economy, though Europe, the weakest region geographically, has become less central to the Anglo-Dutch company’s fortunes.
Unilever is a part of our Global Opportunities portfolio.
For information on Alhambra Investment Partners’ money management services and global portfolio approach to capital preservation, Joe Calhoun can be reached at: jyc3@alhambrapartners.com or 
786-249-3773.
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