Colgate earnings
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Colgate's North American business (excluding pet nutrition) was boosted in the fourth-quarter by the strong performance of Colgate toothpastes, the firm announces Jan. 25. The unit's sales grew 8.5% in the fourth-quarter to $614.6 mil. Unit volume in the region grew 6% during the quarter, and operating profit advanced 9.9% to $133 mil. Colgate Total continued its strong performance, while last year's launch of Colgate Max Fresh and Colgate Luminous helped generate strong volume and market share growth during the period, the firm said. "Colgate's U.S. toothpaste leadership market share continued to grow, with its ACNielsen market share reaching 35.3% year-to-date, up 40 basis points versus the year-ago period," the company said. For the year, North American revenues grew 5.5% to $2.51 bil., while operating profit increased 2.9% to $545.7 mil. For the full-year 2006, Colgate is forecasting double-digit earnings per share growth, "excluding restructuring charges and accounting changes for stock-based compensation"...