Dental, personal care and pet food products maker Colgate Palmolive Co.
CL,
said Friday it had net income of $718 million, or 87 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, up from $5 million, or 1 cent a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 87 cents, ahead of the 85 cent FactSet consensus. Sales rose to $4.950 billion from $4.629 billion, also ahead of the $4.893 billion FactSet consensus. “We leveraged our strong margin performance to invest behind building our brands, with a 19% increase in advertising spending in 2023, and we expect higher levels of brand investment in 2024,” CEO Noel Wallace said in a statement. The company is now expecting 2024 sales to grow 1% to 4%, including a low-single-digit impact from foreign exchange movements. It expects gross profit margin expansion, increased advertising investment and double-digit EPS growth. Adjusted EPS is expected to grow by a mid to high-single-digit percent The stock was up 0.7% premarket and has gained 7% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500
SPX,
has gained 20.5%.
