LONDON – The performance of ice cream lifted sales for Unilever and its Refreshment business segment in the third quarter, the company said Oct. 25.

Companywide, Unilever had third-quarter sales of €13,364 million ($17,301 million), which compared with €12,115 million ($15,684 million) in the previous year’s third quarter.

In Refreshment, sales of €2,693 million ($3,487 million) in the third quarter compared with €2,441 million ($3,160 million) in the previous year’s third quarter.

Ice cream delivered strong growth with positive volume and price, according to Unilever. The Magnum brand continued to do well in the United States and Indonesia, and it also was launched in the Philippines and Malaysia. Ben & Jerry’s benefited from a Greek frozen yogurt launch in North America. Beverages growth improved in the third quarter but still lagged market growth.

In Foods, third-quarter sales rose to €3,559 million from €3,480 million.

“Spreads volumes suffered from relative high pricing in key markets, but we have already taken action in some markets to ensure that our prices are competitive and our volume market shares are improving as a result,” Unilever said.

Through the fiscal year’s first nine months, Unilever companywide had sales of €38,762 million, up from €34,903 million in the same time period of the previous year. Nine-month sales rose to €7,867 million from €7,141 million for Refreshment and to €10,690 million from €10,314 million in Foods.

The company’s Americas region had third-quarter sales of €4,363 million, up from €4,016 million and nine-month sales of €12,842 million, up from €11,384 million.