Unilever failed to impress investors this week with a disappointing third quarter trading update. Its shares tumbled despite food companies having proved relatively safe stock market havens since the US terror attacks on September 11. Unilever predicted a third quarter overall sales increase of 4%. However, price rises instigated to maintain contributions from developing markets have been at the expense of volume. Analysts predicted Unilever may fail to hit its full-year "low double-digit" earnings per share growth or reach it only at the expense of competitiveness. Unilever plans to meet its long-term goals through concentrating on key global brands. {{NEWS }}

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