Unilever sees continued growth in third quarter of 2012

Unilever has published its financial results for the third quarter of 2012, during which it experienced further year-on-year improvement and above-market volume growth.

The company's turnover increased by 10.3 percent to 13.4 billion euros (10.8 billion pounds), bringing its total for the year to 38.8 billion euros.

According to the report, the firm has been able to deliver a strong balance between volume and price during the quarter, as well as another strong performance for its emerging markets operations.

Within its personal care division, key brands such as TRESemme, Dove and Vaseline all delivered encouraging results, while Unilever's investments in innovation and efficiency are also proving their worth.

Paul Polman, chief executive officer at Unilever, said: "The organisational structure that we announced last year is already paying off and we are seeing benefits in terms of our agility and discipline in operational execution."

Earlier this month, the company announced a new alliance with the Earth Institute that aims to bring the health benefits of handwashing with soap to a wide range of rural villages in poorer countries.