Business News

Kimberly-Clark Announces First Quarter 2008 Results

Monday 28. April 2008 - 1Q Net Sales Increased Approximately 10 Percent to a Record $4.8 Billion in 2008; GAAP-Basis EPS Were $1.04 vs. $0.98 in 2007 Adjusted EPS Rose 5 Percent to $1.08, In Line With Previous Guidance for the Quarter Company Reaffirms Adjusted EPS Guidance of $4.45 to $4.60 for the Full Year of 2008

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) today reported that net sales in the first quarter of 2008 advanced 9.7 percent to $4.8 billion, a new quarterly record. Chief among the highlights, sales in developing and emerging markets climbed 22 percent, with particular strength in the Personal Care and K-C Professional businesses. Overall, organic sales growth exceeded 5 percent, driven primarily by increased sales volumes and higher net selling prices. Changes in currency exchange rates also benefited sales by more than 4 percent.

Diluted net income per share was $1.04 compared with $0.98 in the prior year. Adjusted earnings in the first quarter of 2008 were $1.08 per share, up 5 percent from $1.03 per share in 2007 and in line with the company’s previous guidance range of $1.05 to $1.08 per share. The top-line growth, along with continued success in reducing costs, helped the company deliver improved results despite approximately $160 million of cost inflation and a $22 million rise in strategic marketing spending. A lower share count, partially offset by a related increase in interest expense, also contributed to the increase in adjusted earnings per share versus the year-ago period.

Adjusted earnings exclude charges for strategic cost reductions to streamline the company’s operations in both years and certain incremental implementation costs related to the strategic cost reduction plan in 2007. Further information about adjusted earnings and other non-GAAP financial measures is provided in a separate section of this news release.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Falk said, “We’re off to a good start in 2008, with results on plan in the first quarter in the face of unrelenting inflationary pressures. Our Personal Care business continued to perform at a high level. Top-line growth was a robust 14 percent and the bottom-line expanded at an even faster pace, as our teams delivered double- digit operating profit gains in every region of the world. I’m also encouraged that overall net selling prices increased by nearly 2 percent during the quarter. Improving revenue realization is a key focus for us in order to improve margins, particularly in the Consumer Tissue and K-C Professional businesses, which have been hardest hit by inflation. Meanwhile, we continued to do the right things for the long-term health of our business, driving costs out of the system and stepping up marketing support for our brands. During the quarter, we also made good use of our cash, boosting the dividend by more than 9 percent and buying back about $200 million of KMB stock.”

Review of first quarter sales

The first quarter sales growth of 9.7 percent reflected increased sales volumes of nearly 3 percent, higher net selling prices of about 2 percent and favorable product mix of approximately 1 percent. As noted above, stronger foreign currencies boosted sales by more than 4 percent.

Sales of personal care products climbed 13.8 percent in the first quarter. Sales volumes rose 7 percent, while net selling prices and product mix both improved about 1 percent and currency effects added approximately 5 percent to sales.

Personal care sales in North America went up about 6 percent compared with the first quarter of 2007, driven by increased sales volumes and net selling prices, up approximately 4 percent and 2 percent, respectively. Sales volumes improved across most categories, paced by double-digit growth for the company’s Depend and Poise incontinence care brands and mid-single digit growth for Huggies baby wipes. In diapers and child care, sales volumes rose about 2 percent in comparison to strong increases in the year-ago quarter. Child care volumes benefited from continued growth in higher-margin, super premium GoodNites Sleep Boxers and Sleep Shorts. Selling prices were higher primarily as a result of price increases for diaper and child care products implemented during the first quarter in the U.S.

In Europe, personal care sales were up 8 percent in the quarter, as favorable currency effects boosted sales by about 11 percent. Increased sales volumes of 1 percent were more than offset by a 3 percent decline in net selling prices and slightly lower product mix. The volume gain reflects higher sales of Huggies diapers and baby wipes, Pull-Ups training pants and DryNites youth pants across the region. However, competitive promotional activity in diapers affected net selling prices and also contributed to a 2 percent decline in sales volumes of Huggies diapers in the company’s four core markets – U.K., France, Italy and Spain.

In developing and emerging markets (D&E), personal care sales jumped nearly 26 percent, as the company is benefiting from strong product and customer programs in rapidly growing markets. Sales volumes increased more than 13 percent and the mix of products sold improved about 3 percent, while net selling prices also went up 2 percent. Stronger foreign currencies benefited sales by approximately 8 percent. The growth in sales volumes was broad-based, with particular strength throughout most of Latin America and in South Korea, China, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam.

Sales of consumer tissue products were 7.1 percent above the first quarter of 2007. Although overall sales volumes declined 1 percent versus the prior year, net selling prices and product mix improved by 3 percent and 1 percent, respectively, and favorable currency exchange rates benefited sales by 4 percent.

In North America, sales of consumer tissue products rose slightly in the first quarter, as an increase in net selling prices of more than 2 percent and favorable product mix of 1 percent were mostly offset by a 3 percent decline in sales volumes. The decrease in sales volumes was driven primarily by the company’s decision to shed certain low margin business as a part of the company’s overall focus on improving revenue realization and to support continued growth of Scott bathroom tissue and other higher-margin offerings. Sales volumes of Kleenex facial tissue were essentially even with the year-ago quarter, as the cold and flu season recovered from the weakness experienced in the fourth quarter of last year. The increase in net selling prices includes the benefit from price increases for bathroom tissue and paper towels in the U.S. that were successfully implemented mid-quarter.

In Europe, consumer tissue sales rose about 13 percent. Currency exchange rates strengthened by an average of almost 9 percent, accounting for a majority of the increase. Sales volumes were up approximately 6 percent, on higher sales of Kleenex facial tissue and Andrex bathroom tissue, partially offset by declines of 1 percent each in net selling prices and product mix.

Consumer tissue sales in developing and emerging markets rose approximately 16 percent. Net selling prices and product mix improved 8 percent and 1 percent, respectively, while sales volumes were down more than 2 percent. This reflects the company’s strategy to raise prices in response to higher raw materials costs and to shift mix to more differentiated, higher-margin products. Favorable currency effects added about 9 percent to sales.

Sales of K-C Professional (KCP) & other products advanced 9.1 percent compared with the year-ago quarter. Sales volumes and net selling prices both were approximately 2 percent better than the prior year, while changes in foreign currency rates benefited sales by about 5 percent. KCP continued to post strong sales volume gains in Latin America and volumes were up 2 percent in North America and 4 percent in Europe, reflecting continued growth of the Kleenex, Scott and Cottonelle washroom brands and Kimtech and WypAll wiper products. Net selling prices were higher in every region around the world as a result of increases implemented over the past year.

Sales of health care products decreased 1.6 percent in the first quarter. Net selling prices declined by approximately 2 percent and sales volumes and product mix were both lower by about 1 percent, partially offset by currency benefits of 2 percent. The volume and price declines were mainly attributable to competitive conditions affecting surgical supplies in North America, along with lower demand for face masks globally due to avian flu preparedness in 2007. Meanwhile, sales of higher-margin medical devices, particularly Ballard respiratory catheters, continued to generate solid improvement.

Other first quarter operating results

Operating profit was $664 million in the first quarter of 2008, compared with $616 million in 2007. Excluding net charges for the company’s strategic cost reduction plan in both years and related implementation costs in 2007, adjusted operating profit for the quarter increased 3 percent to $688 million from $669 million in the prior year. Top-line growth, along with FORCE (Focused On Reducing Costs Everywhere) cost savings of about $24 million and strategic cost reductions of $28 million enabled the company to more than offset approximately $160 million of cost inflation. The inflationary increases were driven primarily by higher fiber costs, up $70 million versus the first quarter of 2007, and more than $55 million for raw materials other than fiber, including nonwovens and other oil-based materials, along with about $20 million of higher energy costs and approximately $15 million in distribution costs. Marketing, research and general expenses in the first quarter reflect the higher level of marketing spending, as well as increased expenses to support growth in developing and emerging markets and to further build capabilities in key areas such as customer development.

Interest expense for the quarter increased approximately $24 million from the prior year, mainly as a result of new long-term debt issued to fund the company’s $2.0 billion accelerated share repurchase program in July, 2007.

The company’s effective tax rate in the first quarter was 27.5 percent in 2008 and 20.6 percent in 2007. Excluding the effects of charges for the company’s strategic cost reduction plan in both years, as well as related implementation costs and net effects from synthetic fuel partnerships in 2007, the adjusted effective tax rate for the quarter was 27.7 percent in 2008 compared with 28.3 percent in 2007. The net effect of synthetic fuel partnership activities was a benefit of approximately $7 million in the first quarter of 2007. Synthetic fuel produced by the partnerships was eligible for tax credits through the end of 2007, at which time the law giving rise to the tax benefits expired. The partnerships will be dissolved during 2008 at no cost to the company. Reconciliations of the above effective tax rate calculations are provided in a separate section of this news release.

Kimberly-Clark’s share of net income of equity companies in the first quarter decreased to about $43 million from $45 million in 2007, due mainly to lower net income at Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V., where sales growth of about 9 percent was more than offset by significantly higher raw materials costs and an increase in the effective tax rate.

Minority owners’ share of subsidiaries’ net income was approximately $36 million in the first quarter of 2008 compared with almost $25 million in the prior year. The increase was mainly attributable to minority owners’ share of increased earnings at majority-owned subsidiaries in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.

Competitive improvement initiatives – update on strategic cost reduction plan

The company’s strategic cost reduction plan is part of a comprehensive, multi-year effort announced in July 2005 to further improve Kimberly-Clark’s competitive position. The plan calls for streamlining manufacturing and administrative operations primarily in North America and Europe, with expected annual savings of at least $350 million by 2009. These cost savings are allowing the company to invest in targeted growth opportunities and in key capabilities, including innovation, marketing and customer development.

During the first quarter, the company continued to successfully execute planned cost reduction activities, the most significant of which involved consolidating infant and child care operations in North America, improving the cost structure in Health Care and streamlining administrative operations in North America and Europe. Savings for the first quarter totaled approximately $28 million, consistent with the company’s plan to reduce costs by $75 to $100 million for the full year.

To date, employees have been notified about workforce reductions and other actions at all 23 facilities slated for sale, closure or streamlining as part of the cost reduction plan. In addition, pretax charges of $844 million (about $590 million after tax), or approximately 95 percent of the plan’s expected cost, have now been incurred. The company estimates cumulative charges for implementing the plan, through its completion in 2008, will total $880 to $910 million ($610 to $630 million after tax), of which approximately 35 percent is expected to be paid in cash.

Cash flow and balance sheet

Cash provided by operations in the first quarter decreased to $426 million from $525 million in 2007, primarily because of an increased investment in working capital. Capital spending for the quarter was $221 million in 2008 compared with $282 million in the prior year. The company still expects capital spending in 2008 will be in a range of $850 to $950 million.

During the first quarter, the company repurchased approximately 3.1 million shares of its common stock at a cost of about $200 million, in line with the company’s target to repurchase $800 million to $1 billion worth of its shares in 2008.

At March 31, 2008, total debt and redeemable preferred securities was $6.7 billion compared with $6.5 billion at the end of 2007.

Outlook

Commenting on the outlook, Falk said, “Our Global Business Plan is creating sustainable growth and we are confident that we will continue to execute the Plan well and deliver on our commitments going forward. Building on the momentum of our first quarter performance, we expect solid growth in organic sales over the balance of the year. Favorable currency effects, at current rates of exchange, should also benefit sales comparisons. However, we anticipate inflation will continue to put pressure on our margins, particularly in light of recent increases in fiber and oil costs. Nonetheless, we expect to generate good bottom-line improvement for the full year, as we focus on improving revenue realization and reducing costs. Meanwhile, we plan to continue to support our growth and further strengthen our competitive position with higher levels of spending for strategic marketing and customer development.

“Overall, we remain comfortable that our results in 2008 will be in line with the long-term objectives of our Plan. Specifically, we expect adjusted earnings per share in 2008 will be in a range of $4.45 to $4.60 per share, up 5 to 8 percent from $4.25 per share last year.

“As for the second quarter, we expect adjusted earnings per share will be in a range of $1.08 to $1.11. This will represent growth of 4 to 7 percent compared with $1.04 per share in 2007, even though we’re projecting an increase in the effective income tax rate versus both last year and the first quarter of this year equivalent to several cents per share.”

Non-GAAP financial measures

This press release and the accompanying tables include the following financial measures that have not been calculated in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S., or GAAP, and are therefore referred to as non-GAAP financial measures:

— adjusted earnings and earnings per share
— adjusted operating profit
— adjusted effective tax rate




These non-GAAP financial measures exclude certain items that are included in the company’s earnings, earnings per share, operating profit and effective tax rate calculated in accordance with GAAP. A detailed explanation of each of the adjustments to the comparable GAAP financial measures is given below. In accordance with the requirements of SEC Regulation G, reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures are attached.

The company provides these non-GAAP financial measures as supplemental information to our GAAP financial measures. Management and the company’s Board of Directors use adjusted earnings, adjusted earnings per share and adjusted operating profit to (a) evaluate the company’s historical and prospective financial performance and its performance relative to its competitors, (b) allocate resources and (c) measure the operational performance of the company’s business units and their managers. Additionally, the Management Development and Compensation Committee of the company’s Board of Directors uses these non-GAAP financial measures when setting and assessing achievement of incentive compensation goals. These goals are based, in part, on the company’s adjusted earnings per share and improvement in the company’s adjusted return on invested capital determined by excluding the charges that are used in calculating these non-GAAP financial measures.

In addition, Kimberly-Clark management believes that investors’ understanding of the company’s performance is enhanced by including these non-GAAP financial measures as a reasonable basis for comparing the company’s ongoing results of operations and for understanding the company’s effective tax rate. Many investors are interested in understanding the performance of our businesses by comparing our results from ongoing operations from one period to the next. By providing the non-GAAP financial measures, together with the reconciliations, we believe we are enhancing investors’ understanding of our businesses and our results of operations, as well as assisting investors in evaluating how well the company is executing the material changes to our enterprise contemplated by the strategic cost reduction plan. Also, many financial analysts who follow our company focus on and publish both historical results and future projections based on non-GAAP financial measures. We believe that it is in the best interests of our investors for us to provide this information to analysts so that those analysts accurately report the non-GAAP financial information.

We calculate adjusted earnings, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted operating profit and adjusted effective tax rate by excluding from the comparable GAAP measure (i) charges related to our strategic cost reduction plan for streamlining the company’s operations, (ii) certain incremental implementation costs relating to our strategic cost reduction plan, and (iii) the net effect of the company’s investment in synthetic fuel partnerships on the company’s effective tax rate. Each of these adjustments and the basis for such adjustments are described below:

— Strategic cost reduction plan. In July 2005, the company authorized a
strategic cost reduction plan aimed at streamlining manufacturing and
administrative operations, primarily in North America and Europe. The
strategic cost reduction plan commenced in the third quarter of 2005
and is expected to be substantially completed by December 31, 2008. At
the time we announced the plan, we advised investors that we would
report our earnings, earnings per share and operating profit excluding
the strategic cost reduction plan charges so that investors could
compare our operating results without the plan charges from period to
period and could assess our progress in implementing the plan.
Management does not consider these charges to be part of our earnings
from ongoing operations for purposes of evaluating the performance of
its business units and their managers and excludes these charges when
making decisions to allocate resources among its business units.
— Implementation costs. In connection with our strategic cost reduction
plan, the company has incurred incremental implementation costs related
to the transfer of certain administrative processes to third party
providers. These costs were incurred primarily in the first six months
of 2007. Management excludes these implementation costs from our
earnings from ongoing operations for purposes of evaluating the
performance of our business units and their managers and to exclude
these costs when making decisions to allocate resources among its
business units.
— Adjusted effective tax rate. In the analysis of its effective tax rate,
the company excludes the effects of charges for the strategic cost
reduction plan and related implementation costs, as well as net effects
from the company’s investment in synthetic fuel partnerships. We
believe that adjusting for these items provides improved insight into
the tax effects of our ongoing business operations.




These non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the comparable GAAP measures. There are limitations to these non-GAAP financial measures because they are not prepared in accordance with GAAP and they may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies due to potential differences in methods of calculation and items being excluded. The company compensates for these limitations by using these non-GAAP financial measures as supplements to the GAAP measures and by providing the reconciliations of the non-GAAP and comparable GAAP financial measures. The non-GAAP financial measures should be read only in conjunction with the company’s consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP.