Colgate’s Profits Up 22% on International Sales

Before the bell Tuesday, Colgate-Palmolive reported an increase in third-quarter profits stimulated by strong emerging market sales. The world's largest producer of toothpaste said profits came in at $420.1 million ($0.77/share) compared to $344.1 million ($0.63/share) a year ago. Excluding restructuring costs and pension charges, the company earned $0.86/share, beating analysts' estimates by a penny. Sales, which increased 12% to $3.53 billion, also were a little better than analysts' forecasts of $3.47 billion. CEO Ian Cook said (full earnings call transcript later today), "Colgate's market shares are strong and getting stronger in key markets around the world. Colgate strengthened its global leadership in toothpaste and manual toothbrushes during the quarter and our global market share in both categories increased to all-time record highs." Morgan Stanley analyst William Pecoriello said around 45% of the company's sales comes from developing and emerging markets, so Colgate-Palmolive should continue to perform strongly, benefiting from a weak dollar and strong world economy. Shares of the company traded down 0.34% to $74.26 in pre-market trading Tuesday, as investors were not excited by the company's slight beat.

Sources: Press release, Bloomberg, Reuters
Commentary: Why Companies Entering China Must Carefully Consider Their Partners • A Bark Worse Than Its Bite
Stocks to watch: CL. Competitors: UN, PG. ETFs: XLP, IYK
Earnings call transcript: Colgate-Palmolive Q2 2007

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