Unilever first quarter sales rise despite later Easter

A worker scans barcodes by a chiller cabinet of Flora margarine at a Sainsbury's supermarket in London February 6, 2008. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor/Files

LONDON (Reuters) - Consumer goods maker Unilever reported higher first-quarter underlying sales on Thursday, despite a later Easter holiday that pushed some food sales into the second quarter. The Anglo-Dutch company said revenue fell 6.3 percent to 11.4 billion euros, though underlying sales, which exclude the impact of foreign exchange and acquisitions and disposals, rose 3.6 percent. (Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Louise Ireland)