US woes take gloss off Avon sales
©Bloomberg Avon said it continued to face problems in its US and China businesses, even as the cosmetics seller’s turnround efforts yielded improved results in Brazil and Russia, two other…
Unilever: trekking to Hindustan
Why would you do something like this? On Monday, investors could have bought shares in India’s Hindustan Unilever for Rs500. On Tuesday Unilever, which already owns just over half of…
Unilever increases control over Indian unit
©Bloomberg Right royal row: Sunsilk shampoo, a product of PT Unilever Indonesia Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods group, plans to spend up to $5.4bn to buy a further slice of…
Brazil demand fuels Luxottica sales rise
Luxottica, the world’s largest maker of eyewear by sales, reported a 5.6 per cent rise in net sales in the first quarter to €1.9bn as demand for its Rayban and…
William McGrath, Aga chief executive
©Anna Gordon Bake-off: William McGrath leads a company whose products are synonymous with middle-class Britain William McGrath is chipper. It is unusually sunny in London and the head of Aga…
Effort to turn the tide as P&G loses lustre
For much of its 175-year history, Procter & Gamble has been the gold standard in consumer products, an overachiever that reliably invents clever new items, markets them with style and…
Change of fortune
Like P&G, Unilever spent a long time in a funk. For the best part of a decade, turnover barely budged, share performance was lacklustre and strategic direction was wanting. Under…
UK ceramics industry undergoes revival
©Getty On a flight to New York this week, Anthony Jones was slightly surprised to read an article in his courtesy newspaper suggesting the demise of the company he runs.…
Unilever/P&G: washing their faces
A recession, it is generally held, is two successive quarters of shrinking economic growth. It could also be two successive quarters of shrinking toothpaste tubes and shampoo bottles. How else…
Samsung results highlight mobile reliance
Samsung Electronics announced first-quarter earnings that slightly exceeded expectations, but its shares slipped as the world’s biggest technology group by sales reiterated its cautious outlook for the global smartphone market.…
Samsung confirms Galaxy S4 shortages
Samsung Electronics has confirmed it is having difficulty meeting higher-than-expected demand for its new Galaxy S4 smartphone, days ahead of its hotly anticipated global launch. A patchy rollout of the…
Revenues rise 5% in first quarter
Global demand for cigarettes continued to slide as British American Tobacco, the world’s second-largest tobacco company by market share, opted to increase prices to redress slowing sales volumes. Revenues rose…
Colgate takes pasting after currency devaluation
The devaluation of Venezuela’s currency forced Colgate-Palmolive to take a profit-sapping charge, but investors welcomed sales growth that was stronger than its biggest peer Procter & Gamble. The toothpaste and…
West pressed to act over Dhaka disasters
©Reuters The day before the building collapsed and killed more than 200 people, Rana Plaza, which housed five garment factories producing for western brands, suddenly developed deep cracks. Brac Bank,…
Bangladesh mourns as factory toll rises
©Reuters Bangladesh was observing a day of national mourning on Thursday, as rescue workers searched through the rubble of a collapsed garment factory building in a hunt for survivors among…