KMB Kimberly Clark Corp

   By Robert Barba 
 

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) reported Wednesday that its profit in the fourth quarter fell by a third as the maker of Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissues saw costs climb.

Kimberly-Clark reported earnings of $411 million, or $1.18 a share, compared with $617 million, or $1.75 a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company reported earnings of $1.60 a share.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected the company to report earnings of $1.37 a share and adjusted earnings of $1.65 a share.

Sales fell 1% from a year earlier to $4.57 billion. Analysts expected revenue of $4.45 billion.

Costs of products sold rose 6% to $3.17 billion.

"Overall, it was a challenging macro environment and our margins declined, reflecting significant commodity inflation and currency volatility," Chief Executive Mike Hsu said in prepared remarks. "Nonetheless, I'm encouraged that in response to these headwinds we achieved higher selling prices in the second half of the year."

Mr. Hsu added that the company expects the 2019 to be challenging but "somewhat better than in 2018."

In 2019, the company guided for net sales to decrease 1% to 2%, including a 3% to 4% negative effect from foreign currency exchange rates. Organic sales should increase 2%. The company is also expecting earnings of $4.85 to $5.35 a share, and adjusted earnings of $6.50 to $6.70 a share.

Write to Robert Barba at robert.barba@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 23, 2019 08:11 ET (13:11 GMT)

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