Colgate-Palmolive reported its latest financial results, highlighting a mixed performance amidst a challenging global environment. Net sales declined by 3.1% with $4.911 billion, largely due to a significant 4.4% headwind from foreign exchange rates.
Colgate maintained its strong leadership positions in the oral care category, with a year-to-date global market share of 31.9% in manual toothbrushes and 40.9% in toothpaste.
Commenting on the first quarter results, Chairman, President, and CEO Noel Wallace praised the team’s resilience, noting that they delivered organic sales and earnings per share growth despite widespread market difficulties. Wallace emphasized that building flexibility into the company’s profit and loss structure helped drive year-over-year increases in operating profit, net income, and earnings per share. Additionally, Colgate boosted its advertising investment by 30 basis points to 13.6% of sales to further strengthen its brands and increase household penetration.
By region, first-quarter net sales in North America declined 3.6% compared to the same period last year; Latin America declined 8.7% year-over-year; Europe grew 2.5% year-over-year; Asia/Pacific declined 5% year-over-year; and Africa/Eurasia declined 1.5% year-over-year.
Specifically, the Oral, Personal and Home Care segment achieved net sales of $3,792 million in the first quarter of 2025, a decline of 4.3% compared to the same period in 2024, and accounted for 77.2% of total net sales.
Of this, the Oral, Personal and Home Care segment business experienced year-over-year declines in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Africa/Eurasia, except in Europe, where it recorded a 2.5% increase. In Asia Pacific, the segment declined 5.1 per cent, second only to Latin America, which posted the largest decline.
Based on current spot rates and factoring in the estimated impact of tariffs announced and in effect as of April 24, 2025, the company updated its full-year outlook. Colgate now expects net sales to grow in the low single digits, including a low-single-digit negative impact from foreign exchange. Organic sales growth is projected between 2% and 4%.
