Unilever on the road recovery

"2007 marks the third successive year of accelerating sales growth and came with an underlying improvement in margin. This is clear evidence that our strategy of focusing resources on faster growing and profitable segments is succeeding," said Unilever chief executive Patrick Cescau.

Last August Unilever announced it was to revamp its business with a programme to sell businesses worth €2 billion and focus on its faster-growing operations. In the last six months, the Netherlands-based company has closed a raft of factories across Europe and sold off a couple of brands no longer deemed vital to the company's future. The company has sold cheese brand Boursin to French firm Fromageries Bel and offloaded its US seasonings business Lawry's to McCormick & Co.

Recently, the company also announced it had agreed to buy Russia's largest ice cream maker Inmarko. Unilever said its Russian business had been the "outstanding performer" in Europe during 2007. The company saw sales across the region rise 2.8%.

"We remain confident of achieving our 2010 goals - for an operating margin in excess of 15% while delivering consistent, competitive growth along the way," Cescau added. "In 2008 we expect underlying sales growth to be towards the upper end of our 3-5% target range and to see a further underlying improvement in operating margin."