- Colgate's quarterly sales fall short of estimates
(Reuters) - Colgate-Palmolive Co (CL.N) reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales on Friday along with a drop in profit for a charge related to the new U.S. tax law, driving shares of the world's largest toothpaste maker 4 percent lower.
Colgate said it expects sales growth in 2018 but the forecast did nothing to shake the impression of stagnation that has dogged Colgate and other consumer goods producers in the past year.
While the S&P 500 has risen more than 50 percent in the past year, Colgate shares are up less than 15 percent and it has missed sales estimates in five of the past six quarters.
Chief Executive Officer Ian Cook said the global market in the company's core dental-care business remained "challenging".
For 2018, Colgate said it expected mid-single-digit net sales growth and low- to mid-single-digit organic sales growth, along with double-digit earnings per share growth.
Sales rose 4.5 percent to $3.9 billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, but analysts on average had expected sales of $3.92 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Net income fell to $323 million, or 37 cents per share, from $606 million, or 68 cents per share, largely due to a $275 million charge from changes to the U.S. tax code.
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