KMB Kimberly Clark Corp

By Sabela Ojea

Kimberly-Clark Corp. on Tuesday posted an increase in profit and sales in its latest quarter after raising the prices of its products by 10% for the second quarter in a row.

The consumer products company behind brands such as Kleenex, Kotex and Huggies posted first-quarter net income of $566 million, or $1.67 a share, compared with $523 million, or a $1.55 a share, for the same period a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet had forecast earnings per share of $1.36.

Sales rose 2% to $5.20 billion, beating analysts expectations of $5.06 billion. Organic sales, which strip out the effects of foreign-exchange conversion, acquisitions and divestitures, climbed 5%.

The company saw lower sales volumes across each business division, dropping by 5% on average in the period. Notwithstanding, the decline was better than expected, Chief Executive Mike Hsu said.

Each of the company's divisions and regions saw a decline in sales volumes.

Kimberly-Clark's gross margin, on the other hand, rose on the back of the company's prices, which also increased by 10% in the prior quarter. In the third and second quarter of 2022, the company raised prices by 9% following a 6% increase in the first quarter.

Last Friday, its competitor Procter & Gamble Co. also reported higher earnings and sales on the back of a 10% hike in prices across its various brands, which helped it offset lower sales volumes.

Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 25, 2023 08:19 ET (12:19 GMT)

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