Ice cream sales have disappointed in poor summer weather

Unilever said sales of ice cream and iced tea drinks were "substantially lower" in July and August because of poor weather in northern Europe.

It also blamed weak consumer confidence and competition pressure for poor sales of home and personal care products.

Unilever's brands include Marmite, Magnum and Ben & Jerry's ice creams, Lipton tea and Cif cleaning products.

The company, which said profits for the year would be lower than forecast, added it had been affected by intense competition in the laundry and hair product markets in Asia.

'Moving forward'

But it said trading across the rest of the business was broadly in line with expectations.

Unilever said it plans to increase spending on advertising and promotion.

UNILEVER LEADING BRANDS FOOD - Knorr, Lipton, Ragu, Hellman's, Bertolli, Findus, Bird's Eye, Marmite, Flora, Slim-Fast ICE CREAMS - Magnum, Cornetto, Ben & Jerry's HOME CARE - Cif, Surf, Domestos, Comfort PERSONAL CARE - Dove, Lux, Sunsilk, Pond's, Signal Latest Unilever share price

"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," the company said in a statement.

The profit warning came after a similar trading statement in July when Unilever said sales of its leading brands was flat in the second quarter of 2004.

Sales fall forecast

The firm said sales of the leading brands would fall in the third quarter.

By Monday's close, Unilever shares were down 22.5 pence at 459.5p, but off their worst of the day.

Unilever employs 234,000 people in about 100 countries worldwide.

In 2003, annual profits increased 21% to 4.9bn euros (�3.35bn). Its third quarter results are due to be published on 27 October.

Chairman Niall Fitzgerald, who has been with Unilever since 1967, is leaving the company at the end of the month to become chairman of news and information group Reuters.

His replacement will be Patrick Cescau, the current head of Unilever's food division.