Kimberly-Clark Corp, the maker of Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissues, reported better-than-expected first-quarter sales, helped by its personal care business.
Net income attributable to shareholders fell to $93 million, or 26 cents per share, from $563 million, or $1.57 per share. Results in the latest quarter included $577 million in restructuring charges.
Sales rose 5 percent to $4.73 billion in the quarter ended March 31, beating analysts' average estimate of $4.60 billion.
Organic sales were up 2%, which included 3% growth in the business' North American consumer products operation.
Improved Performance
"I'm encouraged by the 2 percent organic sales growth we delivered in the first quarter, led by improved performance in North America," commented Kimberly-Clark chairman and chief executive officer Thomas J. Falk.
"We also generated $90 million of cost savings, reduced discretionary spending and returned approximately $550 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. While our margins were impacted by significant commodity inflation, we're taking actions to increase net realized revenue and reduce costs in order to improve performance."
Falk added that the business is "broadly on track with our plan for the year and we remain optimistic about our opportunities to create long-term shareholder value through execution of our Global Business Plan strategies."
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Additional reporting by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
