Colgate-Palmolive 4Q Profit Falls, Hit by Higher Costs

By Will Feuer

Colgate-Palmolive Co. said its profit fell in the most recent quarter as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to constrain demand for some of its products and higher costs around the world hit margins.

The consumer-products company Friday posted net income attributable to the company of $148 million for its fourth quarter, compared with $647 million a year earlier. Earnings were 18 cents a share, compared with 75 cents a share in the prior year.

The company said its drop in earnings was driven by a non-cash, after-tax charge of $518 million related to the Filorga skin health business primarily due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the duty-free, travel retail and pharmacy channels.

Adjusted earnings rose to 79 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting 77 cents a share.

Net sales rose to $4.4 billion from $4.32 billion, the company said. Analysts were looking for $4.42 billion.

Sales in North America fell 28% from the year prior, in part because consumer demand in certain categories that had benefited from Covid-19-related demand declined year-over-year, the company said.

The company said it also saw significantly higher raw- and packaging-material costs in every region.

Write to Will Feuer at Will.Feuer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 28, 2022 07:31 ET (12:31 GMT)

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