UPDATE: Kimberly-Clark Posts Upbeat Q3 Earnings, Plans To Lower Up To 1,300 Jobs

Kimberly-Clark

reported upbeat earnings for the third quarter announced its plans to lower up to 1,300 jobs. The company also lowered its earnings forecast for the year to $5.93 to $6.03 per share, versus its earlier forecast of $6.00 to $6.15 per share. The Dallas, Texas-based company posted a quarterly profit of $562 million, or $1.50 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $546 million, or $1.42 per share. Excluding certain items, its earnings climbed to $1.61 per share from $1.44 per share. Its sales rose 3.4% to $5.4 billion, while organic sales gained 4%. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.54 per share on revenue of $5.36 billion. Kimberly-Clark's product costs increased 2.4% in the quarter. Sales from outside North America and western Europe climbed 10% in the period. Kimberly-Clark's sales in its personal-care segment rose 4% to $2.5 billion, while sales in consumer-tissue segment climbed 4% to $1.7 billion. Sales at the K-C Professional segment surged 4% to $900 million in the quarter, while health-care segment sales slipped 3% to $0.4 billion. Cash provided by operations in the quarter was $976 million, versus $912 million in 2013. The company repurchased 1.8 million shares at a cost of $191 million during the quarter. The company reported the initiation of restructuring program and expected related costs in $130 to $160 million range after-tax. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Falk said, "We delivered another very good quarter of results, with solid organic sales growth, significant cost savings and margin improvement, and double-digit growth in adjusted earnings per share. We also made further progress with targeted growth initiatives, launched product innovations and supported our brands with increased advertising spending.” Kimberly-Clark shares rose 2.85% to $111.12 at 1:45 p.m. ET.