Colgate-Palmolive Q1 Earnings Meet Estimates

reported in-line earnings for the first quarter on Thursday. The New York-based company posted quarterly net income of $542 million, or $0.59 per share, compared to $388 million, or $0.42 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Its adjusted earnings came in at $0.66 per share. Its sales declined to $4.07 billion from $4.33 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.66 per share on revenue of $4.07 billion. The average estimate among 17 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.67 per share and revenue of $4.1 billion. North America net sales rose 0.5 percent in first quarter, while Latin America sales slipped 5.5 percent. Europe/South Pacific net sales fell 14.5 percent, while Asia net sales declined 1.5 percent. Africa/Eurasia net sales tumbled 15.0 percent during first quarter. Hill's net sales slipped 2.5 percent during the quarter. Global unit volume rose 1.5 percent in the quarter, while pricing climbed 2.5 percent. Gross profit margin widened to 58.8 percent in first quarter, from 58.4 percent in the year-ago quarter. Operating profit rose 36 percent year-over-year to $860 million in first quarter. Ian Cook, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the results and outlook excluding the 2015 and 2014 items noted above, "In the face of challenging macroeconomic conditions worldwide, we are pleased to have started the year with solid organic sales growth and higher profitability as a percent to sales, despite significant foreign currency headwinds." Mr. Cook added, "As we look ahead, macroeconomic conditions and foreign exchange volatility remain challenging. Despite that, we anticipate another year of solid organic sales growth driven by a full new product pipeline across all categories and geographies. While our long-term goal of double-digit annual earnings per share growth remains unchanged, we continue to see significant deterioration in foreign exchange rates." Colgate-Palmolive shares fell 0.38 percent to close at $68.51 yesterday.