Colgate-Palmolive reports Q1 base EPS 86c, consensus 76c

Reports Q1 revenue $5.07B, consensus $4.63B. Noel Wallace, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the Base Business first quarter results, “We are very pleased to have started 2024 with another quarter of strong top and bottom line performance as we continued to execute our strategy successfully. Net sales increased 6.2% and organic sales grew 9.8%, with organic sales growth in every division and across all categories. We are particularly pleased to have delivered double-digit growth in operating profit, net income and earnings per share for the third consecutive quarter while still investing for the long-term health of our business. The strong gross and operating margin expansion in the quarter funded a 16% increase in advertising and we expect strong levels of brand investment over the balance of 2024. We also continued to invest behind building and scaling the capabilities needed to drive our growth going forward, in areas like innovation, digital, data and analytics, revenue growth management and marketing effectiveness. Our strong growth momentum and great start to the year add to our confidence that we are executing the right strategies to deliver on our updated 2024 financial targets and generate consistent, compounded earnings per share growth.”