Although negative forex lopped several points off gains, Colgate-Palmolive said Q2 sales rose 1% to nearly $3.9 billion. Organic sales rose 5.5% for the period. 

“Our momentum continued in the second quarter, despite the many challenges brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic, including government actions to stem the spread of the virus," explained CEO Noel Wallace. "Our strategy has accelerated our growth over the past two years, and we continue to execute that strategy with agility to position us to win both during the pandemic and during the recovery. The ability of our teams on the ground to quickly adapt to new ways of working in the face of these challenges has been extraordinary."
Wallace credited the gains to strong growth in North America and within the Hill’s pet nutrition business. Colgate also reported elevated demand across geographies in certain categories such as liquid hand soap, dish liquid, bar soap and cleaners. In other categories, Colgate is starting to see the impact of consumers working down their pantry inventories, particularly in Europe.

"Over the second half of the year, we will continue to fund strong consumer programs to drive our business," said Wallace, noting that Colgate's margins expanded in Q2. In the first half, Colgate's share of the US toothpaste market was 34.9% and its share of the manual toothbrush segment was 40.9%.

Given the continued uncertainty related to the impact of the virus and government actions to stem the virus, including macroeconomic impacts, Colgate has decided not to reinstate financial guidance for 2020 at this time.

"As we proceed through this pandemic we plan to reinstate our guidance when we have the visibility to forecast our results with more confidence,” Wallace concluded.