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Dove soap maker Unilever has announced a net profit increase of nearly 30 per cent for 2006.

Releasing its full-year financial results today the consumer goods maker reported a 27 per cent profit increase from its full operations, which included the sale of its European frozen foods businesses before the end of the year.

The company earned a profit of €1.2 billion (£800 million) from the sale of the business. Profit from continuing operations was up by ten per cent.

Unilever's sales grew by 3.8 per cent, with the company reporting that its personal care division, developing and emerging markets all showed strong growth.

Commenting on the results group chief executive Patrick Cescau said: "The improved performance in 2006 shows that the wide-ranging changes made to the business over the last two years are working.

"I am particularly pleased that this improvement is broad-based, with every region and category contributing. The new organisation and the implementation of One Unilever are improving Unilever's operational effectiveness; bringing faster decision making, better local execution and enabling us to allocate resources more effectively across our portfolio."

For 2007 Unilever has forecast an underlying sales growth of between three to five per cent, despite predicting that the rise of commodity prices will continue to negatively impact their sales.