Kimberly-Clark Posts 3Q Profit

Kimberly-Clark Corp. posted higher third-quarter profit but still fell short of expectations as dealtwith price competition and higher raw material costs, sending its shares down 5%.

Kimberly-Clark, which makes Kleenex tissues, Huggies diapers and Pull-Ups training pants,said price competition will remain intense in diapers and training pants, where it faces deepdiscounting in Europe from rival Procter & Gamble, maker of Pampers and Luvs.

Kimberly-Clark’s third-quarter net income rose to $441.3 million, up from $419.7 million a year earlier.Sales rose 6% to $3.8 billion, just above analysts’ average estimate of $3.85 billion. Volume rose3% and the weak dollar added two percentage points to sales growth.

European personal care sales fell about 5% in the quarter despite a boost from currency translation.Sales volumes fell 12%, and net selling prices were down about 2%.