Sales Slip at Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation posted second quarter 2015 results and narrowed its previous guidance for full-year 2015 adjusted earnings per share.
 
Second quarter 2015 net sales fell 6% to $4.6 billion, as changes in foreign currency exchange rates reduced sales.  In personal care, sales also slipped 6% to $2.3 billion. Sales in North America decreased 2%—however, Huggies baby wipes volumes rose double digits, including benefits from innovation and market share gains. Volumes in adult care, child care and Huggies diapers were all down slightly.
 
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Falk said, “We continue to execute our Global Business Plan strategies well. In the second quarter, we delivered mid-single digit growth in organic sales and adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations. We also achieved significant cost savings and improvements in adjusted gross and operating margins. In addition, we made further progress with targeted growth initiatives, launched product innovations and allocated capital in shareholder-friendly ways. In terms of our full-year earnings outlook, we are raising the low end of our previous guidance by 5 cents per share. This reflects our strong performance in the first half of the year, additional cost savings and more investments behind our brands and growth initiatives than we previously planned. We continue to be optimistic about our prospects to generate attractive returns to shareholders.”
 
For the first six months of 2015, total sales of $9.3 billion decreased 5% compared to the year-ago period.
 
In key planning and guidance assumptions for full-year 2015, the drag on sales and earnings from foreign currency translation effects is expected to be at the high end of the company's previous assumption, which was for a negative impact on net sales of 9 to 10%, according to the company.