Unilever sold more of almost everything and its turnover moved 0.5 percent, because currency took 4.9 points off the top

Five and a half percent. That is how much more product Unilever moved in the second quarter, and the chief executive says it is the best volume quarter the company has had in over a decade.

Underlying sales grew 4.8 percent across the first half, 4.2 percent of it volume and 0.6 percent price, and the second quarter ran at 5.8 percent with 5.5 percent volume, according to the results announcement Unilever published on Tuesday. Power Brands, which the company puts at 78 percent of turnover, grew 6.0 percent. Emerging markets, 60 percent of turnover, grew 7.0 percent in the half and 8.3 percent in the second quarter. India grew 8 percent and reached 10 percent in the quarter. Europe went the other way, at minus 0.9 percent.

Then the reported figures arrive and they do not agree.

Turnover was €25.6bn, up 0.5 percent, because currency took 4.9 percent off it and acquisitions net of disposals put 0.7 percent back. Underlying operating profit was €5.2bn, up 0.9 percent, on a margin of 20.3 percent. Gross margin fell 70 basis points to 46.8 percent, which the company attributes to commodity inflation, calibrated pricing and planned World Cup promotions, offset by volume leverage and productivity. Net profit was €3.3bn, down 3.5 percent. Diluted earnings per share fell 2.5 percent to €1.38. Underlying earnings per share rose 2.4 percent to €1.61.

The outlook is where the shape of the next six months is stated. Unilever upgraded full-year underlying sales growth to somewhere inside its 4 to 6 percent range, with around 3 percent underlying volume growth, and it expects second-half growth of 4 to 5 percent led by pricing. Price led nothing in the first half. It contributed 0.2 percent in the quarter just reported.

Three other things are in the document. The €800m productivity programme launched in 2024 to strip out overheads stranded by the Ice Cream separation is finished ahead of schedule, and overheads improved 70 basis points. The quarterly dividend is €0.4664 per share, payable in September, up 3.0 percent on the second quarter of 2025, and the €1.5bn buyback announced in February completed in June. On the Foods combination with McCormick, agreed in March, the company says separation work is progressing and that McCormick announced the combined company's operating model, executive team and a secondary listing in London on 23 July. Completion is expected by the middle of 2027 at the latest.