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Kimberly-Clark Posts Higher Profit on Strong Int'l Growth

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By Reuters

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Jeff Chiu/AP

Kimberly-Clark posted a bigger-than-expected jump in first-quarter earnings and raised its forecast for the year Friday as the maker of Kleenex tissues and Huggies diapers saw strong growth in its international markets and cut costs.

The company, which competes against larger rival Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) in categories such as diapers and paper products, said it cut $85 million in costs during the quarter.

Shares of the company rose 2.6 percent to $104 in trading before the market opened.

Excluding items such as restructuring costs, Kimberly-Clark earned $1.48 a share, well ahead of an average forecast by analysts of $1.34, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net income rose to $531 million, or $1.36 a share, from $468 million, or $1.18 a share, a year earlier.

Sales rose 1.5 percent to $5.32 billion, topping analysts’ forecast of $5.28 billion.

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In personal care, the company’s largest segment with products such as Huggies diapers, North American sales were flat as a 1 percent price increase offset lower sales volumes. Sales of these products rose 4 percent in international markets, helped by a 2 percent price increase and growth in countries such as China, Russia and South Korea.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) said it expected to post 2013 earnings a share of $5.60 to $5.75, excluding items, versus its prior target of $5.50 to $5.65. The analysts’ average forecast is $5.59.

While the company has been cutting some expenses, materials and distribution costs rose in the quarter. Input costs were up $35 million from a year earlier, with increases of $15 million for fiber, $10 million for other raw materials and $10 million for distribution, it said.

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From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/19/kimberly-clark-earnings/

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Looking to Lure Younger Men, Old Spice Expands Bar Soap Line

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By The Associated Press

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By MAE ANDERSON

NEW YORK — Old Spice is raising the bar, literally.

The aftershave brand, which is known for appealing to more mature men, is introducing a line of scented soap bars this month.

It may seem odd that Procter & Gamble Co. (PG), which has fought in recent years to refashion its 75-year-old Old Spice brand to target younger men, is rolling out something that some people consider antiquated.

After all, not much has changed with bar soap since P&G introduced Ivory soap in 1879. Body wash has eclipsed bar soap sales in 2010, according to research firm Euromonitor International.

Bar soap sales edged up just 1 percent in the U.S. between 2007 and 2012 to $1.62 billion, according to the firm’s data. Meanwhile, body wash revenue jumped 30 percent during the same period to total $2.44 billion.

But Old Spice executives say their interviews with thousands of men each year indicate that bar soap is popular among men. Some say it’s what they grew up with, others prefer the “squeaky clean” feeling of bar soap and others just like that it’s cheaper than body wash, he said.

“We know that 42 percent of guys use bar soap in the shower, but only 15 percent of bar soap has ‘manly’ scents,” said Jason Partin, Old Spice brand manager.

The rest are odor neutral or have feminine scent, he said, leaving an opening for Old Spice.

The new soaps come in Old Spice‘s three most popular scents: “Fiji,” a summery scent, “Power Sport,” a fresher, clean scent, and “Swagger,” which is slightly musky. They’re aimed at 25- to 34-year-old men, and will cost $3.99 for a 6-pack and $1.79 for a 2-pack.

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To rev up interest, the company is rolling out an ad campaign on Tuesday that includes spots that make fun of jingle-laden soap commercials from the 1980s.

One shows a man showering with the soap in a gym locker room and then cutting open a basketball to reveal a watermelon-like inside. “It’s a really weird commercial for soap,” the accompanying jingle trills.

Another shows a man showering with the soap and then having the shower following him everywhere — even when he is in the middle of operating on a patient and when he goes out to dinner with a beautiful woman.

“The freshness will follow you all through your day,” the jingle states. “This could actually be a fairly serious problem.”

Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest consumer product maker whose products range from Tide detergent to Crest toothpaste and Gillette razors, has focused on rolling out new products in North America as it lowers costs to boost its bottom line.

Old Spice, with about $564 million in annual sales, according to Bernstein estimates, is not a large …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Notable ETF Inflow Detected – VTV, CVX, PG, WFC

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By ETFChannel.comLooking today at week-over-week shares outstanding changes among the universe of ETFs covered at ETF Channel, one standout is the Vanguard Value ETF (AMEX: VTV) where we have detected an approximate $105.9 million dollar inflow — that’s a 1.5% increase week over week in outstanding units (from 117,034,485 to 118,834,485). Among the largest underlying components of VTV, in trading today Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is up about 0.2%, Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) is off about 0.6%, and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is higher by about 0.1%. For a complete list of holdings, visit the VTV Holdings page ยป
Source: Forbes Markets