Colgate-Palmolive Profit Matches Estimates, Sales Slightly Short

Colgate-Palmolive Co. said Thursday it had net income of $574 million, or 63 cents a share, in the second quarter, down from $622 million, or 67 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Exclcuding special charges, per-share earnings came to 70 cents, matching the FactSet consensus. Sales edged down 6.5% to $4.07 billion, just below the FactSet consensus of $4.08 billion. Chief Executive Ian Cook said worldwide organic sales rose 5.5%, led by emerging markets, while the company expanded is share of the global toothpaste market to 45%, up 0.5 points from a year ago. "As we look ahead, macroeconomic conditions and foreign exchange volatility remain challenging," he said in a statement. "Despite that, we anticipate another year of solid organic sales growth driven by a full new product pipeline across all categories and geographies." The company is expecting full-year EPS to decline in the low single digits on a dollar basis. Shares were slightly lower in premarket trade and are down 0.4% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.4%.