Unilever reported a 51 percent increase in annual net profit on Thursday, driven by a strong performance in India and other Asian markets.

The consumer goods firm reported a net profit of 9.8 billion euros ($11.21 billion) in 2018 compared to 6.5 billion euros in 2017.

However, Unilever pointed to a challenging market environment throughout 2018, in particular currency devaluations and rising commodity costs that put pressure on demand.

"We think these are a solid set of results because they balance nicely growth and operating margin improvement," Alan Jope, chief executive officer, told CNBC's Joumanna Bercetche on Thursday. "And it is a good quality of growth because it is 2/3 volume and 1/3 price, which is very much indicating that more people are buying our brands around the world."

Out of the company's three divisions, beauty and personal care contributed the most to Unilever's turnover in 2018.