Unilever sales up 7.2 percent, year to beat target : US Business

LONDON (Reuters) - Food and consumer goods giant Unilever Plc/NV beat forecasts with a 7.2 percent rise in first-quarter underlying sales on Thursday and said it expected sales in the year to beat its target range.

Anglo-Dutch Unilever , which makes Sunsilk shampoo, Dove soap and Knorr soups, reported the underlying sales rise for the first three months of 2008 compared to forecasts for a 4.8 to 6.4 percent increase and a 5.7 percent consensus.

Quarterly earnings per share also beat forecasts with a 35 percent rise to 0.47 euros against analysts' forecasts of 0.23 to 0.38 euros and a consensus of 0.30 euros.

(Reporting by David Jones)

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