Unilever to cut 20,000 jobs

The group, which makes Hellmann's mayonnaise and Dove soap, said its latest round of job cuts would be focused on European operations. It said it was too early to provide further details.

Unilever employed 223,000 people at the end of 2004, but its "One Unilever" initiative, which has involved the streamlining of operations and brands, has brought that figure down to 179,000. It employs around 8,000 people in the UK, including at factories in Port Sunlight and Leeds.

The announcement from the Anglo-Dutch group, which also makes Magnum ice cream, came as it said underlying sales grew by 5.8% in both the second quarter and the half year, helped by strong growth in Asia and Africa. It reported pre-tax profits of 2.74 billion euros (£1.85bn) for six months, an increase of 6% at constant exchange rates.

Unilever described trading in UK, France and Germany as "still subdued but improving", with sales growth in Europe improving to 2.6% in the first half.

In the UK, there was good growth in deodorants, household care, tea and dressings, but some market share loss in fabric conditioners and hair care, as well as lower sales of ice cream following prolonged wet weather.

Unilever shares rose 5% on Thursday as the company impressed the City with its forecasts for underlying annual sales growth of close to 5%.

Keith Bowman, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, said: "Up until the start of the year, Unilever had developed a habit of taking two steps forward, only to then take one step backwards - today's progressive results may at last suggest the company has truly hit the recovery path."

The company's One Unilever programme, introduced in 2005, saw the company bring together the operation of previously separate brands. It is looking for an operating margin target of 15% by 2010.

It warned it was facing higher commodity costs in some areas, but added that price increases and cost saving programmes would help offset the rises.