Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

story

Kimberly-Clark Profit Falls on Costs

By Reuters
Published | Updated

DALLAS – Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB), maker of Kleenex tissues and Scott paper towels, said Tuesday fourth-quarter earnings tumbled 17 percent as one-time costs cut into profits, offsetting higher revenue.

Earnings fell to $371.1 million, or 79 cents per share, from $445.3 million, or 91 cents per share, a year ago. Sales edged up 3 percent to $4.01 billion from $3.9 billion.

After the news, the company's stock fell $1.41, or 2.4 percent, to $58.30 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Stripping out one-time items such as a tax provision for repatriating foreign profits and certain accounting adjustments, Kimberly-Clark said its fourth-quarter earnings per share would have increased 3 percent to 95 cents per share.

Analysts, on average, expected the company to post adjusted earnings of 95 cents per share on sales of $4.07 billion, according to Thomson Financial.

For the full year, Kimberly-Clark's earnings declined 13 percent to $1.57 billion, or $3.28 per share, from 2004's profit of $1.8 billion, or $3.61 per share. Annual earnings from continuing operations fell 11 percent to $1.58 billion, or $3.31 per share, from $1.77 billion, to $3.55 per share.

Full-year 2005 sales increased 5 percent to $15.9 billion from $15.08 billion.

"Even though we had to absorb cost inflation of approximately $400 million in 2005 — more than double the level expected heading into the year — we stepped up our brand-building efforts, investing about $90 million in incremental marketing and research expenses," Chairman and Chief Executive Thomas Falk said in a statement.

Looking ahead, Falk said the company expects to face continued inflationary pressures while anticipating cost-savings under existing initiatives of up to $250 million. The company is forecasting 2006 earnings, excluding unusual items such as charges, in the range of $3.85 to $3.95 per share.

For the first quarter, the Irving, Texas-based company expects adjusted earnings of 90 cents to 93 cents per share, including stock option costs.

Wall Street has projected a 2006 adjusted profit of $3.95 per share and first-quarter earnings of 95 cents per share.