Unilever CEO says UK in eye of the economic storm

Reuters, Tue Oct 13, 2009 6:38am EDT

LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Britain is in the eye of an economic storm and household budgets are likely to remain under strain for some time to come, the head of Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever (ULVR.L) (UNc.AS) said on Tuesday.

"The UK has found itself firmly in the eye of the economic storm with more deleveraging to do than many other countries," Paul Polman told the annual conference of the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD).

"With job losses as well as taxes increasing, household budgets are going to remain tight for some time to come.

"We're in an industry driven by employment and consumer confidence and unfortunately both indices are not going to show a significant improvement in the near future," he said.

Polman's cautious tone appears to contrast with recent comments from other business leaders, such as the head of British retailer Tesco (TSCO.L), who said last week the worst of the recession was over and a long, gradual recovery was likely.

(Reporting by Mark Potter; Editing by David Cowell)

Related Articles:

P&G's new CEO McDonald seeks 1B more customers

Unilever’s Polman Eyes M&A, Emerging Market Growth

Dollar falls to 14-month low vs currency basket

Run on DSB bank makes Dutch central bank take control

UK's Brown plans to announce 3 bln stg asset sale

Carrefour CEO sees no signs of global upturn-paper

Russia economy 'to shrink 7.5%'