THE HAGUE: Consumer products giant Unilever, the owner of brands including Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream, Lipton and Dove, says its first quarter sales dropped two per cent to 12.5 billion euros ($14 billion) from the same period last year as it was hit hard by exchange rate fluctuations and ‘fragile’ consumer demand. The Anglo-Dutch company said that its underlying sales growth, stripping out factors like the exchange rate changes, was 4.7 per cent, thanks to a strong performance in emerging markets. Unilever did not report its first-quarter profit. CEO Paul Polman said on Thursday the company is ‘maintaining momentum despite a tougher external environment’.