Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL) early Friday posted mixed first quarter earnings results and offered a tepid outlook due to what it called a “slow start” to the year.

Written by StockNews.com

The New York City-based consumer products giant reported Q1:

  • earnings per share (EPS) of $0.67, which was $0.01 better than the Wall Street consensus estimate of $0.66,
  • revenues were flat from the year-ago period at $3.76 billion, falling just short of analysts’ view for $3.79 billion,
  • gross profit margin was 60.3%, a 50 basis point improvement over the 59.8% it saw in the first quarter 2016 and
  •  gross margins rose 70 basis points to 60.7%, excluding one-time items.

    • Ian Cook, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the first quarter results:

    “Clearly the first quarter was challenging and did not meet our organic sales growth expectations, driven mainly by softer results in North America.

    • Net sales were even with the year ago quarter,
    • while organic sales grew 0.5%, led by emerging markets where organic sales grew 3.0%…

    As we look ahead, uncertainty in global markets and slowing category growth worldwide remain challenging.

    While based on current spot rates, we continue to expect:

    • a low-single-digit net sales increase for 2017, based on our slow start to the year…[and]
    • organic sales growth for 2017 to be modestly below our 4% – 7% range with sequential improvement throughout the year.”

    …Year-to-date, CL has gained 13.27%, versus a 7.21% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

    CL currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of A (Strong Buy), and is ranked #4 of 16 stocks in the Consumer Goods category.

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