Unilever’s Acquisitions Boost Profit

Consumer goods giant Unilever said second-quarter earnings rose 7% to about $695 million, on a 3% increase in sales to $9.86 billion, bolstered by the acquisitions of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and SlimFast diet foods. The Dutch company, whose many brands include Bestfoods, Lipton, Dove and Elizabeth Arden, also said it will realign management into two global divisions, one for food and one for soaps and household products. The new management structure follows a yearlong strategy to whittle down Unilever’s 1,600 brands to the 400 best sellers, an effort that is showing results faster than many investors expected. While the move revived talk about splitting up the company, Unilever denied that a breakup is in the works. Unilever’s American depositary receipts rose 75 cents to close at $26.50 on the NYSE.