Unilever’s beauty ‘power brands’ Dove and Vaseline, along with prestige hair care brand K18, helped drive third quarter 2026 growth at the conglomerate, as turnover grew 6.7% to €13.3bn.
Underlying sales grew 5.2% in the three month period, with 2.9% from volume and 2.3% from price growth in response to higher commodity costs.
Growth was led by Unilever’s ‘power brands’ portfolio, where underlying sales grew 5.8%, with 3.3% volume growth.
Unilever’s beauty and wellbeing business grew 5.7%, with 3.6% volume and 2.1% price growth.
Hair care experienced double-digit growth and skin care mid-single digit growth.
Body care brands Dove and Vaseline, hair care brands Sunsilk and Clear, as well as prestige hair care brand K18, experienced double-digit growth led by volume.
Unilever’s wellbeing brands, which include Liquid I.V. and Nutrafol supplements declined in the third quarter, and is down 1% year-to-date, partly due to shipment timings for Amazon Prime Day.
Meanwhile, underlying sales grew 6.3% in Unilever’s personal care division, with 3.8% volume and 2.4% price growth, and broad-based across geographies.
This included high single-digit growth in emerging markets and mid-single-digit growth in the US.
Skin cleansing grew in the high single-digit and deodorants grew in the mid-single-digit, with accelerated price growth reflecting higher commodity costs.
Dr. Squatch, the male grooming brand Unilever acquired in June 2025 for $1.5bn and which was included in the company’s underlying sales growth from September, grew double-digits in the third quarter too.
Emerging markets gained momentum across the business, up 9.5% led by strong growth in India, Latin America and South East Asia.
In developed markets, Unilever’s business was largely flat, however, volume share gains came from personal care and beauty, offsetting declines in wellbeing and food divisions.
“We have delivered another quarter of competitive growth, led by continued strong volume delivery and a step up in price to offset the impact of higher commodity costs,” said Fernando Fernandez, CEO of Unilever.
“Our ‘power brands’ continued to lead performance, with strong growth across home care, personal care, and beauty and wellbeing.
“Emerging markets were again a key driver, with broad based growth across markets, led by India and continued strength in Latin America and South East Asia.
“Developed market performance reflected tougher prior year comparators and softer performance in foods.”
As a result of its performance in the first nine months of the year, Unilever has upgraded its full-year outlook.
Fernandez continued: “We are performing while transforming Unilever.
“We are becoming simpler and sharper, with greater focus and stronger execution as we drive desire at scale across our brands.
“This progress gives us confidence that we will now deliver at least 3% volume growth for the full year.”
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