Earnings Preview: Unilever To Report Q3 Earnings

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Unilever NV, the maker of consumer products such as Dove soaps and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, reports earnings for its third quarter before the market opens Thursday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.

OVERVIEW: Unilever has suffered during the downturn as consumers favored cheaper products over the company's more expensive name brands. Unilever responded by cutting prices, which helped keep sales volumes high and preserve market share — but ate into profits.

Chief Executive Officer Paul Polman, who took the top job at the company in January, has promised Unilever will grow sales without sacrificing profit margins further.

The bar has been set high for Unilever as major U.S. competitors like Procter & Gamble, Colgate and Kellogg all beat analyst expectations with their earnings reports last week, mostly due to better than expected sales.

An underperformer for much of the decade, Unilever has followed the trail blazed by its two largest rivals, P&G and Nestle, selling off less-known brands to focus on the winners.