Mubasher: Consumer goods maker Unilever on Thursday announced an increase of 2.5% in its sales during the first six months of 2018, added to higher profits despite a decline in revenues.

The slight increase came despite price drops in North America and Europe, as well as strikes that occurred in Brazil.

The Anglo-Dutch firm’s revenues levelled down to EUR 26.4 billion in H1-18, compared to EUR 27.7 billion in the corresponding period a year ago.

Unilever’s net profits amounted to EUR 3.04 billion during H1-18, down from EUR 3.11 billion in the year-ago period.

"We think Unilever's sales performance is disappointing, particularly in light of hot weather in the Northern hemisphere which ought to have boosted ice-cream sales," RBC analyst James Edwardes Jones told MarketWatch.

The consumer product firm's prices in North America edged down 0.3% in the period between January and June.

Unilever’s CFO Graeme Pitkethly ascribed the slower sales growth to “fewer innovations being launched compared to the same period a year earlier.”

The Netherlands-based company’s sales volume increased 1% in North America, while sales fell during Q2-18.

"We're going toe to toe in a battle to provide consumer value," he said. The company is also fighting Procter & Gamble Co. (PG), which has followed Unilever to launch its own dry-spray deodorants,” Pitkethly said.