Kimberly-Clark, the producer of Huggies and Kleenex, has posted net sales of $4.6 billion during its third quarter, representing a 1% increase year on year.
In North America, organic sales on consumer products rose by nearly 1%. Elsewhere, organic sales in developing and emerging markets were up by 3%, however, they fell by 3% in developed markets.
"We delivered bottom-line growth in the third quarter in a challenging environment," said Thomas J. Falk, chairman and chief executive of Kimberly-Clark.
"We also achieved $125 million of cost savings and reduced discretionary spending to help offset inflationary cost headwinds. In addition, we returned more than $500 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases."
Quarterly Performance
Third-quarter sales in Kimberly-Clark's personal-care segment fell by 1%, to $2.3 billion, with lower volumes of Huggies diapers and feminine-care products.
However, sales in the consumer tissue segment increased by 3%, to $1.5 billion. Volumes rose by around 4%, and currency rates were favourable, by 1%, which offset lower selling prices.
In the K-C Professional segment, sales went up by 3%, to $0.8 billion, with increases seen across all markets.
Overall, these figures bring the company's sales for the first nine months of the year to $13.7 billion, which is essentially even with the same period last year.
Outlook
Kimberly-Clark says that it continues to expect that full-year net sales and organic sales for 2017 will be similar, or up slightly, year on year.
The company also anticipates that earnings per share will be at the lower end of its target range of $6.20 to $6.35.
"We are confirming our previous full-year 2017 outlook ,and we continue to execute our Global Business Plan strategies for long-term success," added Falk.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
