Colgate-Palmolive ‘well positioned’ to deliver compounded EPS growth in FY24

Noel Wallace, Chairman, President and CEO, commented on the Base Business fourth quarter and full year results, “We are pleased to have finished the year with another quarter of strong top and bottom line results including 7.0% net and organic sales growth, improved organic volume performance, gross and operating profit margin expansion and double-digit earnings per share growth. For the full year, we grew both net and organic sales 8.5%, with organic sales growth in every division and in all four of our categories. This was our fifth consecutive year with organic sales growth at or above our 3% to 5% targeted range. The strong sales growth combined with our commitment to productivity and efficiency drove strong bottom line performance as well, with gross profit, gross profit margin, operating profit, operating profit margin, net income, earnings per share and free cash flow all increasing versus 2022 for both the quarter and the year. We continued to invest in the capabilities required to deliver robust growth going forward, building strength in areas like innovation, digital, data and analytics, revenue growth management and advertising. 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. The quality of our results this year and our strong growth momentum, including improved organic volume performance, add to our confidence that we are well positioned to deliver consistent, compounded earnings per share growth in 2024 and beyond.”