Q4 2024 Colgate-Palmolive Co Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Colgate-Palmolive Co (CL) achieved net sales of $20 billion in 2024, surpassing their strategic plan ambition a year early.
- The company delivered high single-digit organic growth for the second consecutive year, with volume growth in every division and category.
- Increased advertising spending by 15% in 2024, following a 19% increase in 2023, has significantly improved brand health.
- Colgate-Palmolive Co (CL) achieved gross and operating margin expansion despite foreign exchange headwinds and increased spending.
- Record operating cash flow and free cash flow, along with record cash returned to shareholders, highlight strong financial performance.
- Foreign exchange headwinds negatively impacted net sales and gross margin, posing a challenge to earnings growth.
- The company faced softness in some parts of Europe and continued challenges in China, particularly in the skin health business.
- Pricing in North America was negative last year, and segment volumes did not benefit as expected in the back half of the year.
- The pet nutrition category experienced some volatility, with a slowdown in Europe and challenges in maintaining growth momentum.
- Competitive activity increased in certain markets, such as India and South Africa, leading to heightened promotional spending.
Good morning. Welcome to today's Colgate-Palmolive 2024 fourth-quarter and year-end earnings conference call. This call is being recorded and is being simulcast live at www.colgatepalmolive.com.
Now, for opening remarks, I'd like to turn this call over to Chief Investor Relations Officer and Executive Vice President, M&A, John Faucher.
Thanks, Betsy. Good morning, and welcome to our fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings release conference call. This is John Faucher.
Today's conference call will include forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from these statements. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties and are made on the basis of our views and assumptions at this time. Please refer to our fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings press release and related prepared materials, and our most recent filings with the SEC,
| Access to All Earning Calls and Stock Analysis | |
| 30-Year Financial on one screen | |
| All-in-one Stock Screener with unlimited filters | |
| Customizable Stock Dashboard | |
| Real Time Insider Trading Transactions | |
| 8,000+ Institutional investors’ 13F holdings | |
| Powerful Excel Add-in and Google sheets Add-on | |
| All data downloadable | |
| Quick customer support | |
| And much more... |
Trustpilot
We'd love to learn more about your experiences on GuruFocus.com and how we can improve!
Take Survey
