Consumer giant eases price hikes as sales jump

Shares in Unilever, which owns brands like Cif, Cornetto and Dove, were up 4.84% or 187.14p to 4,050.00p on Thursday morning, having fallen around 8% in the last year.

Unilever, which makes products ranging from Dove soaps to Hellmann's mayonnaise, said it was confident in its ability to deliver sustained volume growth and maintained its full-year outlook. The company increased its sales volumes by 2.2%, its second quarter of growth after several consecutive quarters of volumes falling. Analysts had expected sales volumes to rise by 1.2% and prices to increase by 1.8%.