UNILEVER yesterday shocked the City with a profits warning saying poor summer weather had hit sales of key products like ice cream, and there was stiffer competition in the washing powder market. The Anglo-Dutch group, one of Merseyside's biggest employers, said the disappointing weather was among a series of factors contributing to its unacceptable performance. The announcement caused the group's shares to fall by almost 6%. About 2,000 people work for the company at its Port Sunlight plant in research and development and manufacturing. A further 200 are employed making Persil in Warrington. Unilever makes many of the best known products on the world's supermarket shelves and its brands include Magnum ice cream, Lipton Ice Tea, Hellman's mayonnaise and Dove soap. It said the disappointing weather was among a series of factors contributing to its "unacceptable" performance.. The group added it would take action to strengthen its brands after saying it expected margins to be lower in the third quarter of its financial year when compared with last year. It is the latest in a series of disappointing updates for Unilever, which has been battling to reinvigorate the business with a major growth strategy. The company has blamed weak consumer confidence for sluggish sales of its leading brands. Yesterday, Unilever said trading in July and August was below expectations for a number of reasons, including very poor weather in northern Europe, which led to "substantially lower" sales of ice cream and ready to drink tea. It also said continued weak consumer confidence, along with competitive pressures, led to a further decline in the home and personal care markets in Western Europe. And competition in laundry and hair care markets remained intense in a number of key countries in Asia. Chairmen Antony Burgmans and Niall FitzGerald said the recent performance was unacceptable. They added: "We are determined to put this right and we are therefore moving forward with the simplification of our operations and, most importantly, increasing investment behind our brands." tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk | 
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