Consumer goods behemoth Unilever has said that a boost in its emerging markets division helped the group to achieve a full-year net profit rise of 9% to 7.1bn euros (£5.9 billion).

Paul Polman, CEO, said in a statement: “2013 provides further evidence of the progress we are making in transforming Unilever into a sustainable growth company. We have delivered another year of consistent underlying sales growth and margin expansion coupled with strong cash flow. This has been achieved despite significant economic headwinds and highly competitive markets and reflects the benefits of strong margin accretive innovations and active cost management.

“Looking forward, we anticipate ongoing volatility in the external environment and are positioning Unilever accordingly. Although the investments we have made over the last five years ensure that we are well placed, we are determined to make Unilever even more agile and to fund further growth opportunities by driving out complexity and cost.

“Once again, we remain focused on delivering profitable volume growth ahead of our markets, steady and sustainable core operating margin improvement and strong cash flow."