Unilever, which makes Dove, said rising prices of everything from crude to palm and soybean oil made the company cut its operating margin outlookUnilever has warned that surging commodity costs would squeeze its full-year operating margin, overshadowing strong second-quarter sales growth. He said that since the company issued its guidance in the first quarter, crude oil prices had risen 12pc, soy bean oil 21pc; while freight and transportation costs had risen and 4pc and 7pc, respectively. Unilever said that besides accelerating price hikes, it was introducing pack changes and narrowing promotions in the second half in response to rising costs. "It is that eternal triangle of the competitiveness of our growth… landing the pricing and managing the cost inflation," Mr Pitkethly said. "They had been confident of passing through cost inflation at the first quarter stage… now they change their tune."

Source: Irish Independent July 23, 2021 01:30 UTC