Unilever

Marmitegate may have grabbed the headlines in the UK last year, but Unilever has bigger problems. The brand at the centre of the furore with Tesco did not even get a mention in the consumer goods giant’s full-year results on Thursday.

Investors dumped shares in the group, despite underlying sales growth of 3.7% and a rise in profitability in 2016. News that growth slowed considerably in the fourth quarter - with an organic sales rise of 2.2% as emerging markets weakened and developed markets declined 1.2% - and would not likely return until the second half of 2017 sent the stock tumbling 4.7% to 3,191.5p at the time of writing on Thursday afternoon.

CEO Paul Polman indicated a 3%-5% range for organic sales growth in 2017, with a later Easter and tough comparatives leaving the first quarter looking weak. Margin expansion is also expected to be at the lower end of the range.

The majority (2.8%) of the 3.7% growth recorded in 2016 came from price hikes, mainly from inflation-hit Latin America, but this hurt volumes across Unilever’s markets. Underlying sales in developed markets fell back 0.2%, with European sales down 0.7% in the full year and 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Food sales gathered momentum as like-for-like growth rose 1.9%.

“Unilever continues to expect tougher market conditions and high volatility in 2017,” said Liberum consumer goods analyst Robert Waldschmidt. “Higher emerging market exposure (58% of sales) and a deflationary Europe cap Unilever’s growth in the foreseeable future.”

Diageo painted a brighter picture in its first-half results. The Guinness and Johnnie Walker owner reported a 14.5% jump in net sales to £6.4bn in the six months to 31 December, with operating profit up 28% to £2bn, driven by favourable exchange rates and organic growth. Shares surged more than 5% in early trading and are currently up 4.5% at 2,236p. “Much of the generally bullish market sentiment on Diageo is predicated on a rebound in the US business,” said Alicia Forry of Liberum.