Colgate-Palmolive Posts Mixed Q3; Volume Pressures, Pricing Help Offset

Consumer Products Giant Colgate-Palmolive reported mixed third-quarter results on Thursday, as organic sales missed estimates but adjusted earnings per share topped forecasts.

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive edged higher in premarket trading following the release of the quarterly report. Including the price action, the stock is now down by about 1% year-to-date in the stock market.

In separate news from the consumer products industry, Procter & Gamble also reported its financial results for the recent quarter on Thursday.

Colgate-Palmolive said that its net income in the third quarter that concluded on 30th September printed at $412 million that translates to $0.79 per share. In the same quarter of last year, the company had recorded $471 million of net income or $0.90 per share.

On an adjusted basis, Colgate-Palmolive earned $0.80 per share in Q3 that represents a 10.9% annualised decline but topped the analysts’ forecast of $0.79 per share.

The New York City-headquartered firm valued its organic sales growth in the recent quarter at 8.5% that missed the Street’s estimate of 9.0%. On a reported basis, its sales slipped by 1.5% year over year to $4.03 billion, as per the earnings press release.

For the full year, Colgate-Palmolive now forecasts its organic sales to post between 6.0% and 7.0% growth versus a prior estimate of 4.0% to 6.0%. It also raised its forecast for adjusted EPS for the full year and now expects an up to 5.0% annualised decline.

In the prior quarter (Q2), Colgate-Palmolive had posted a 14% annualised decline in its net income.