US-Unilever looks for faster US growth

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Consumer goods giant Unilever Plc/NV (ULVR.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (UNc.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is looking for higher growth in the United States, its single biggest market, for 2006 driven by healthier foods and a focus on key soap and deodorant brands, its U.S. chief Michael Polk told Reuters on Monday.

The Anglo-Dutch maker of Axe deodorant, Lipton tea and Skippy peanut butter is in recovery mode after a shock profits warning in 2004, but Polk said the company, with $10 billion of U.S. sales, was in better shape now and set for faster growth.

"Our aim is to accelerate growth in the U.S. this year and look to better last year's 3.2 percent growth," Polk, senior vice president for Unilever's U.S. business, told the Reuters Food Summit in Chicago.

Unilever expects to grow underlying sales 2 to 4 percent globally under its recovery strategy set out by Chief Executive Patrick Cescau last year, and Polk expects U.S. growth in this range for 2006, but is aiming to beat 2005's growth.

Polk expects growth in the foods segment to be led by healthier products such as Rago organic pasta sauces, a new range of ready meals and healthy versions of Hellmann's mayonnaise and Skippy peanut butter.

He pointed out that the U.S. food market is growing sales at 1-to-1.5 percent a year, but the top 10 U.S. food products saw growth in double-digit percentages, and it was his aim to profit from these "pockets of growth".

"Growth exists where the consumer wants it and that's where we want to be," he added.

He is also looking for growth in the home and personnel care segment from products such as Dove soap and Axe as it focuses more on the everyday needs of its consumers after the sale of UCI Calvin Klein upmarket fragrances last year.

Unilever, the world's number three food group after Nestle (NESN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Kraft (KFT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and one of the world's biggest soap and deodorant makers, has been cutting prices and boosting marketing to drive a sales-led recovery after its 2004 problems.

At that time, Unilever warned that it would not reach its earnings targets.

Cescau has said Unilever's recovery will continue into 2006 after seeing 2005 global underlying sales growth of 3.1 percent, within its medium term goal of 2 to 4 percent compared to virtually flat growth of 0.4 percent in 2004.

However, despite Unilever's recovery, its growth is still half that of key European food competitors Danone (DANO.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), at 6.7 percent, and Nestle, at 6.1 percent during 2005.

In the United States, Unilever saw growth in line with the group's average at 3.2 percent, while its problematic European region saw sales off 0.8 percent, and its Asia and Africa region saw sales increase by some 9 percent.