Colgate-Palmolive’s earnings buoyed by higher prices

Sales rose to $4.950 billion from $4.629 billion, also ahead of the $4.893 billion FactSet consensus.

Sales were boosted by higher prices, which helped boost gross profit margins by 400 basis points to 59.6%.

“We leveraged our strong margin performance to invest behind building our brands, with a 19% increase in advertising spending in 2023, and we expect higher levels of brand investment in 2024,” CEO Noel Wallace said in a statement.

The company is now expecting 2024 sales to grow 1% to 4%, including a low-single-digit impact from foreign exchange movements. The current FactSet consensus implies growth of 3.3%.

See now: Procter & Gamble earnings boosted by higher pricing, sending stock up 5%

The company expects gross profit margin expansion, increased advertising investment and double-digit EPS growth. Adjusted EPS is expected to grow by a mid to high-single-digit percent. The current FactSet consensus implies growth of 8%.

By geography, sales rose 18% in Latin America, as prices rose an average of 8% and volumes were up 8%. In North America, sales rose 3.5% as prices rose 3% and volumes rose 0.5%.

European sales were up 10% as prices rose 7.5% and volumes fell 4.0%. The Asia Pacific region saw sales rise 0.5% as prices rose 5.5% and volumes fell 4.5%. Africa/Eurasia sales fell 4% as prices rose 9.5% and volumes rose 7.5%.

Hill’s pet food sales were up 5% amid an 8.5% rise in prices and volumes fell 4%.

The company said it has a 41.1% share of the global toothpaste market and a 31.5% share of the manual toothbrush market.

The stock was up 0.7% premarket and has gained 7% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.18%
has gained 20.5%.

See also: Kimberly-Clark’s stock dented by weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings