Unilever ‘hit by weather’

Nearly £7.5billion was wiped off Pot Noodle maker Unilever’s stock market value yesterday as it revealed a weak rise in sales.

The multinational’s shares tumbled almost 5.5% after bosses announced sales rose just 2.6% in the three months to September.

That’s below the 3.9% expected and less than the 3% growth in the first half of the year.

Unilever, which also makes Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, blamed bad weather in Europe, hurricanes in the US and earthquakes in Mexico for wreaking havoc with its business.

But it has also been hit by competition from smaller firms.

Its shares fall came as rival Nestle warned sales growth would remain weak the rest of this year.

The KitKat maker is undergoing a shake-up to boost profit margins.