Personal-care brand Colgate-Palmolive has reported a marginal, year-on-year decline in net sales of 0.5%, to $3.86 billion (€3.47 billion), in the second quarter of its financial year.
Organic sales, excluding the impact of foreign exchange, acquisitions and divestments, increased 4%.
The company identified positive volume and higher pricing to be the drivers of growth.
In the first quarter of 2019, the company posted a 3.0% decline in net sales to $3.88 billion (€3.48 billion).
Net income of the company was $586 million (€526.39 million) during the period, and the diluted earnings per share amounted to $0.68.
Its operating profit declined 8% to $888 million (€797.67 million) in second-quarter from $946 million (€849.77 million) in 2018.
The operating profit margin declined 180 basis points year-on-year during the quarter.
'Sequential Improvement'
Colgate-Palmolive president and chief executive, Noel Wallace, commented, "We have achieved another quarter of sequential improvement in organic sales growth [...] In particular, it was terrific to see positive pricing across every operating division.
"Advertising investment increased in absolute dollars and as a percent to sales versus second quarter 2018, with increases as a percent to sales in every division," he added.
Colgate continued to lead the global toothpaste market with a market share of 41.4% year to date.
The company also continued to rule the manual toothbrushes market with a year to date market share of 31.7%.
Outlook
"We continue to expect 2019 net sales to be flat to up low-single-digits, with organic sales up between 2% and 4%, though we now expect to be toward the higher end of that range as we continue to plan for increased investment behind our brands, higher pricing, and strong innovation, particularly behind our core businesses," Wallace explained.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
