Kimberly-Clarck Reports Top And Bottom Line Miss In Q4, Shares Move Lower

Shares of Kimberly Clark Corp KMB were trading lower by more than 2.5 percent at $123.42 in Monday's pre-market session after the company released its fourth quarter results.

Kimberly-Clark earned $1.42 per share during the fourth quarter on revenue of $4.5 billion. Analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.43 per share on revenue of $4.57 billion.

Kimberly-Clark noted its quarterly results reflect organic sales growth of 5 percent, cost savings, input cost deflation and a lower share count. Net income for the quarter rose to $0.91 from a loss of $0.22 in the same quarter a year ago.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Falk said, "Our fourth quarter results capped off another year of good financial performance for Kimberly-Clark. For the full year of 2015, we achieved 5 percent organic sales growth, highlighted by 10 percent growth in developing and emerging markets and a 5 percent volume increase in our North American consumer products business. We also improved adjusted operating profit margin by 120 basis points, including benefits from $365 million of FORCE cost savings. In addition, we grew adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations 5 percent, toward the high end of our original guidance for the year despite significantly more currency headwinds. Finally, we improved return on invested capital considerably and returned $2.1 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. I'm pleased with our execution in a challenging environment."

Finally, Kimberly-Clark issued guidance and expects to earn $5.95 to $6.15 per share during the full fiscal year 2016, mostly short of Wall Street's $6.14 per share estimate.

Falk added, "Looking to 2016, we will continue to focus on the fundamentals that create shareholder value and we expect to deliver good underlying financial performance. We will also continue to invest in our brands, our targeted growth initiatives and our capabilities. We plan to achieve healthy organic sales growth and cost savings, improve cash flow and allocate capital in shareholder-friendly ways. Despite another year of significantly unfavorable currencies, we also expect to further improve our margins and deliver 3 to 7 percent growth in adjusted earnings per share. We are very optimistic about our future and our ability to generate attractive returns to shareholders through successful execution of our Global Business Plan."