Unilever Q2 tops forecast, boosts recovery plan

London, Aug 2: Consumer goods giant Unilever nudged up its 2007 sales forecast after a strong second quarter and said it planned to speed up its recovery by selling off slower growth businesses and making more cost savings.

The world's third-biggest consumer goods group, which makes Sunsilk shampoo, Dove soap and Knorr soups, said on Thursday it now expected underlying sales growth at the upper end of its 3-5 percent target range after a 5.8 percent increase in the second quarter.

The rise for April-June beat analysts' forecasts for growth of between 4.2 percent to 5.5 percent and was driven by strong sales of personal care, tea and household cleaning products.

Unilever also posted a 15 percent rise in earnings from continuing operations to 0.38 euros a share, in the top half of analysts forecasts of 0.32 to 0.40 euros, and unveiled a raft of measures aimed at further improving its performance.

The firm said it would step up innovation, particularly in personal care products, sell off over 2 billion euros (London, Aug 2: Consumer goods giant Unilever nudged up its 2007 sales forecast after a strong second quarter and said it planned to speed up its recovery by selling off slower growth businesses and making more cost savings.

The world's third-biggest consumer goods group, which makes Sunsilk shampoo, Dove soap and Knorr soups, said on Thursday it now expected underlying sales growth at the upper end of its 3-5 percent target range after a 5.8 percent increase in the second quarter.

The rise for April-June beat analysts' forecasts for growth of between 4.2 percent to 5.5 percent and was driven by strong sales of personal care, tea and household cleaning products.

Unilever also posted a 15 percent rise in earnings from continuing operations to 0.38 euros a share, in the top half of analysts forecasts of 0.32 to 0.40 euros, and unveiled a raft of measures aimed at further improving its performance.

The firm said it would step up innovation, particularly in personal care products, sell off over 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) of turnover from slower growing businesses, including its North American laundry operation and seek to reduce its cost base by about 1.5 billion euros a year by 2010.

Shares in Unilever, whose sales growth has lagged rivals such as food group Nestle and Procter & Gamble in recent years, closed at 1,504 pence on Wednesday, valuing the firm at 20 billion pounds ($41 billion).

Reuters.7 billion) of turnover from slower growing businesses, including its North American laundry operation and seek to reduce its cost base by about 1.5 billion euros a year by 2010.

Shares in Unilever, whose sales growth has lagged rivals such as food group Nestle and Procter&Gamble in recent years, closed at 1,504 pence on Wednesday, valuing the firm at 20 billion pounds ( billion).

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