UPDATE 1-Unilever beats sales forecasts as home and beauty brands demand drive growth

​Consumer goods giant ‌Unilever reported first-quarter ​underlying sales growth of 3.8% on Thursday, beating market expectations, on ‌strong demand for its home care brands and beauty brands including Dove and Vaseline.

The maker of Dove soap and Hellmann's ‌mayonnaise kept its 2026 sales and profit margin ‌forecast unchanged. "We have started the year well with volume-led growth driven by our Power Brands and a positive performance across all Business ⁠Groups," ​CEO Fernando ⁠Fernandez said in a statement.

Fernandez is reshaping Unilever to focus ⁠on personal care and beauty after spinning off its ice ​cream business last year and announcing plans last month ⁠to hive off its food division in a merger with U.S. ⁠spice ​maker McCormick. Analysts were expecting underlying sales growth of 3.6% for the three months ended March, according ⁠to a company-compiled consensus. The company posted underlying volume growth of ⁠2.9% for ⁠the quarter, beating estimates of a 1.8% growth.

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