Colgate-Palmolive Fourth-Quarter Sales Unexpectedly Fall; Issues 2025 Outlook
MT Newswires
01 Feb
colgate toothpaste -Shutterstock
Colgate-Palmolive's (CL) fourth-quarter earnings came in ahead of Wall Street's estimates, while revenue posted a surprise decline amid weakness in North America and Latin America.
Per-share adjusted earnings came in at $0.91 for the December quarter, up from $0.87 the year before and topping the FactSet-polled consensus of $0.89. Sales slipped 0.1% to $4.94 billion, compared with the Street's view for an increase to $4.98 billion.
The consumer products company's shares fell 4.3% in Friday trading.
Pricing and volume logged gains, though revenue in North America fell 1% and Latin America saw a 7.2% decrease. The metric rose in Europe and Asia Pacific.
Colgate-Palmolive's oral, personal and home care sales fell to $3.8 billion in the fourth quarter from $3.84 billion in the prior-year period. The pet nutrition business revenue rose to $1.14 billion from $1.11 billion.
For 2025, Colgate-Palmolive expects low- to mid-single-digit growth in adjusted EPS. Sales are estimated to be roughly flat. Analysts expect non-GAAP EPS of $3.77 and sales of $20.33 billion for the year. In the previous year, the company's EPS totaled $3.60, while revenue came in at $20.1 billion.
Organic sales this year are projected between the company's long-term target range of 3% to 5% growth.
"We entered 2025 confident in our strategy and in our ability to deliver consistent, compounded growth, to deliver on our guidance and drive strong total shareholder return," Chief Executive Noel Wallace said during an earnings call, according to a FactSet transcript.
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