DE4CC0DE-5FC3-4494-BCBF-4D50B00366B5

Colgate-Palmolive's Sales Disappoint, Shares Fall

By Steve Wynne-Jones
Share this article
Colgate-Palmolive's Sales Disappoint, Shares Fall

Colgate-Palmolive Co's quarterly sales just met analysts' estimates on Friday as demand in emerging markets including Latin America was below its expectations, sending its shares down 3 percent in premarket trading.

Growth in organic sales slowed in the first quarter from the previous quarter, even as the company spent more on advertising and cut prices to spur demand.

Challenging Quarter

"The first quarter was a challenging one as category growth remained soft in many markets around the world," Chief Executive Officer Ian Cook said in a statement.

The company said organic sales increased 1.5 percent due to flat unit volume growth in emerging markets.

Net sales rose 6.4 percent to $4 billion, compared with the average analyst estimate of $4.02 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

ADVERTISEMENT

Net income rose to $634 million, or 72 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $570 million, or 64 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding certain items, the company earned 74 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected 72 cents.

News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.

Get the week's top grocery retail news

The most important stories from European grocery retail direct to your inbox every Thursday

Processing your request...

Thanks! please check your email to confirm your subscription.

By signing up you are agreeing to our terms & conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.