	unilever has improved margins volumes in unilever plc un a and nv group reported improvements in margins and underlying sales volume growth of five pct in after stripping out the effects of falling prices disposals and currency movements unilever plc chairman michael angus said he told reporters that volumes in north america increased some pct while european consumer goods rose about pct after being flat for some years much of the disposal strategy aimed at concentrating activities on core businesses had now been completed he noted but the process of acquisitions would go on with strategic acquisitions taking place from time to time he said the company earlier reported a pct rise in pre tax profits for to billion stg from mln previously in guilder terms however profits at the pre tax level dropped three pct to billion from billion angus said the recent purchase of chesebrough pond s inc cbm n for dlrs a share was unlikely to bring any ings dilution however it would not add much to profits with much of the company s operating profits paying for the acquisition costs finance director niall fitzgerald added that while gearing debt to equity plus debt rose to about pct at end from pct last year this was expected to drop back to about pct by end the same divergence was made in full year dividend with unilever nv s rising pct to guilders and unilever plc s increasing pct to p approximately in line with the change in attributable profit angus said the prospectus for the sale of parts of chesebrough was due to be published shortly however he said that there was no target date for completing the process he also declined to say what sort of sum unilever hoped to realise from the operation beyond noting that chesebrough had paid around billion dlrs for stauffer chemical co which operates outside unilever s core activities in the u s organic growth from the lipton foods business considerable expansion in the household products business and in margarine had been behind the overall sales increase however he noted that the u s household products business had turned in a planned loss with fourth quarter performance better than expected despite the anticipated heavy launch costs of its surf detergents reuter 
