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Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB) Posts Fourth Quarter Earnings; Personal Care Segment Growth Hampered by Supply Chain Pressure

Wednesday, January 26, 2022 01:50 PM | Kyle Depontes

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Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB) Posts Fourth Quarter Earnings; Personal Care Segment Growth Hampered by Supply Chain Pressure

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB) fell over 3% today after the manufacturer of personal care and tissue products announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2021.

Fourth-quarter 2021 net sales were $5 billion, a 3% increase compared to the same period last year.

Fourth-quarter adjusted EPS was $1.30 in 2021, down 23% compared to $1.69 in 2020.

Full-year 2021 net sales of $19.4 billion jumped 2% from 2020.

Kimberly-Clark owns a number of leading tissue brands including, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex, Depend, Kleenex, and Cottonelle.

Supply Chain Pressure

Chairman and CEO Mike Hsu labeled the current operating environment as "challenging," and praised his team's ability to  "maintain cost discipline, balance pricing initiatives, and take care of its customers."

Hsu added, "Looking ahead, we will continue to invest in innovation, supporting our brands, and accelerating topline growth."

"While we expect inflation and supply-chain disruption to persist into 2022, we are committed to recovering margins to pre-pandemic levels over time, and we are optimistic about gradual improvement later in the year."

Encouragingly, KMB stated that it does not expect a significant additional impact from potential supply chain disruptions as a result of COVID-19 in 2022.

Personal Care Segment

Fourth-quarter sales of $2.6 billion increased 12%, with jumps in both the company's domestic and international markets.

Volumes grew 5%, net selling prices increased 4%, and product mix improved 2 points.

Fourth-quarter operating profit of $425 million increased 6%.

KMB attributed the results to organic sales growth, cost savings, lower other manufacturing costs, and reduced marketing, research, and general spending.

The results were slightly offset by input cost inflation.

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