Consumer products giant Unilever has announced a "strong performance" for the third quarter, as demand soared for cleaning products.
The firm, which is headquartered in London but employs thousands across the North West, said underlying sales were up 4.4%, reflecting the "resilience of our portfolio" - and its "agility" in responding to changing consumer habits.
The firm's home care brands that include Domestos and Comfort saw a 6.7% sales increase - a trend driven by people looking to combat the spread of Covid-19, and spending more time at home.
Underlying sales for food brands including Ben & Jerry's and Magnum grew by 3.7%, while health and beauty products saw a 3.8% rise.
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Online channels continued to grow, with its e-commerce business increasing by 76%. That's despite a drop in its food service and the out-of-home ice cream business continuing to decline.
CEO Alan Jope said: “We have delivered a strong performance this quarter. Volume-led growth shows the resilience of our portfolio and our agility in responding to rapidly changing dynamics across consumer segments, geographies and channels.
“We continue to progress our strategic change agenda. Our proposals to simplify Unilever’s dual-headed legal structure have received strong support from both NV and PLC shareholders, and we have set out our Clean Future Strategy in home care to eliminate fossil fuel derived carbon from our cleaning products by 2030.
“The environment we are operating in will remain unpredictable in the near term, so we will continue to maintain the speed and agility of our response. Our focus remains volume-led competitive growth, delivering absolute profit and free cash flow.”