Post-Earnings Research and Notes - Kimberly-Clark

LONDON, November 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Investor-Edge.com has issued free post-earnings notes on Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB). On October 21, 2014, the company reported its financial results for Q3 FY14 (period ended September 30, 2014). Click on www.investor-edge.com/FreeReports to read our free earnings review on Kimberly-Clark Corp. (Kimberly-Clark). During Q3 FY14, the company's net sales grew 3.4% on a Y-o-Y basis and organic sales saw an increase of 4% Y-o-Y with volumes and net selling prices each up 2%. Kimberly-Clark's adjusted EPS reached an all-time record of $1.61 compared to $1.44 in the year-ago period. Our free coverage report can be accessed at:

www.investor-edge.com/register

Earnings Overview 

During Q3 FY14, Kimberly-Clark reported net sales of $5,442 million, compared to $5,262 million in Q3 FY13. The company's net sales during the reported quarter outperformed Bloomberg analysts' forecast of $5,356 million. The company's organic sales also posted an increase, which includes a 10% growth in K-C International. On the other hand, lower sales in conjunction with European strategic changes and changes in foreign currency exchange rates each reduced the company's sales marginally. The free research on KMB can be downloaded as in PDF format at:

www.Investor-Edge.com/KMBFreeReport

Kimberly-Clark's operating profit increased 12.4% YoY to $907 million in Q3 FY14, from $807 million in Q3 FY13. Adjusted operating profit was $948 million in Q3 FY14, up 15% compared to $821 million in Q3 FY13. The company's organic sales growth and a cost saving of $100 million from its FORCE (Focused On Reducing Costs Everywhere) program benefited adjusted operating profit during the quarter. Further, foreign currency translation effects had overall minimal effect on the company's operating profit during Q3 FY14, while currency transaction effects negatively impacted the operating profit comparison, primarily in Eastern Europe and Latin America.

Net Income Attributable to Kimberly-Clark increased to $562 million, or $1.50 per diluted share, in Q3 FY14, from $546 million, or $1.42 per diluted share, in Q3 FY13. Analysts from Bloomberg had expected the company to report Q3 FY14 net income of $576 million, or $1.53 per diluted share. The company is initiating a restructuring program for improving its organization efficiency and offsetting the impact of stranded overhead costs resulting from its health care business spin-off. The restructuring is expected to cost $130 million to $160 million after-tax and generate cumulative pre-tax savings of $120 million to $140 million. Sign up and read the free analyst's notes on KMB at:

www.Investor-Edge.com/KMB-11112014

Commenting on the results, Thomas J. Falk, Chairman and CEO of Kimberly-Clark, stated that the company has once again delivered very good quarter of results, with solid organic sales growth, significant cost savings, margin improvement, and double-digit growth in adjusted EPS. He said that the company has also made further progress with targeted growth initiatives, launched product innovations, supported its brands with increased advertising spending and generated a strong cash flow. Mr. Falk added that he is encouraged with the company's execution in a challenging environment. According to Mr. Falk, the company's full-year guidance is consistent with its previous outlook, adjusting for the spin-off of its health care business.

The CEO informed that the company is undertaking restructuring program, which will make the organization more efficient, allow it to offset the impact of stranded overhead costs from the spin-off and give an additional flexibility to invest for future growth.

In its guidance for fiscal 2014, the company's adjusted EPS is expected to be $5.93 to $6.03, assuming the spin-off of its health care business occurs at the end of October 2014. The company's previous adjusted EPS target was $6.00 to $6.15 and assumed a full year of results for the health care business. The updated guidance includes a 10 cent per share impact from the spin-off of the last two months of 2014 health care earnings. The revised guidance includes adjusted earnings of $5.46 to $5.56 from continuing operations and adjusted earnings of $0.47 from discontinued operations. . Visit Investor-Edge and access the latest research on KMB at:

www.Investor-Edge.com/KMBEarningsCoverage

Stock Performance 

On the day of the earnings release, October 21, 2014, Kimberly-Clark's stock ended the session at $106.61, gaining 2.95% for the day. The stock has witnessed mostly a positive momentum since then. On the last close, Monday, November 10, 2014, it finished at $113.92, 0.60% above its previous day's closing price of $113.24, after vacillating between $112.65 and $113.93. A total of 1.33 million shares were traded, which was below its three months average volume of 1.56 million shares. Over the previous three trading sessions and last one month, the company's shares have advanced 1.46% and 9.62%, respectively. Also, the stock has gained 13.79% from the beginning of 2014. Shares in Kimberly-Clark closed above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $104.72 and $105.16, respectively. Furthermore, the stock traded at a PE ratio of 20.53 and has a Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 74.94.

Sneak Peek to Corporate Insider Trading 

In the last one month, Kimberly-Clark has not reported any share transactions by insiders to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Complimentary in-depth research on KMB is available at:

www.Investor-Edge.com/KMBInsiderTrading

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