Colgate-Palmolive Q2 Profit Meets Views

reported in-line earnings for the second quarter on Thursday. The New York-based company posted quarterly net income of $574 million, or $0.63 per share, compared to $622 million, or $0.67 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding special charges, the company's earnings came in at $0.70 per share. Its sales dropped 6.5 percent to $4.07 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.70 per share on revenue of $4.07 billion. The average estimate among 18 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.71 per share and revenue of $4.1 billion. North America net sales gained 1.5 percent in the second quarter, while Latin America net sales shrank 8.5 percent. Europe/South Pacific sales dipped 16.5 percent, while Asia net sales rose 2.0 percent. Africa/Eurasia net sales tumbled 17.5 percent during second quarter, while Hill's Pet Nutrition sales slipped 1.5 percent. Global unit volume climbed 3.0 percent in the quarter, while pricing rose 2.5 percent. Gross profit margin narrowed to 58.2 percent in the second quarter, from 58.6 percent in the year-ago quarter. Selling, general and administrative expenses shrank to 34.0 percent of net sales from 34.6 percent of net sales. Ian Cook, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "In the face of challenging macroeconomic conditions worldwide, we are pleased to have achieved another quarter of broad-based organic sales growth, driven by positive unit volume growth and higher pricing." 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 gained 0.79 percent to close at $68.93 yesterday.