Kimberly-Clark showed again that consumers are still flocking to trusted brands during the Covid-19 pandemic, issuing upbeat fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and disclosing an increase in the dividend.
The personal-care company (ticker: KMB) said it earned $539 million, or $1.58 a share. Adjusted earnings, which exclude the effects of its 2018 restructuring program, along with acquisition costs, property sales, and tax credits, were $1.69 a share. Revenue rose 5.5% to $4.84 billion. Analysts were looking for EPS of $1.62 and revenue of $4.73 billion.
The company said organic sales, excluding the impact of acquisitions and divestitures, grew 5% in the quarter and 6% for its full fiscal year.
In addition, Kimberly-Clark said its board of directors approved a 6.5% quarterly dividend increase, its 49th consecutive annual raise, to $1.14 per share, up from $1.07, and a $5 billion share repurchase authorization. A current $5 billion authorization is expected to be completed this year.
Kimberly-Clark was up 1.5% to $134.25 in early trading following the news. The shares have slipped 2% since the start of the year, and are off just over 8% in the past 12 months.
The quarter was a strong one for the company. Sales in its personal-care division climbed 5% to $2.3 billion, while its consumer tissue segment climbed 14% to $1.7 billon.
The company expects 2021 sales will climb between 4% and 6%, on organic sales growth of 1% to 2%, resulting in adjusted EPS of $7.75 to $8. The consensus expectation on Wall Street is for EPS of $7.79.
That said, it wasn’t all good news for the company. Sales at the K-C Professional business declined 9% decline as away-from-home demand fell, and input costs increased $40 million in the quarter, due to Covid-19 and manufacturing expenses, although that was partially offset by costs savings.
The results echo those f peer Procter & Gamble (PG), which also turned in a strong quarter last week. It too was helped by continuing consumer demand for its branded products, a trend that has held fairly steady throughout the pandemic.
Write to Teresa Rivas at [email protected]
