Emerging markets risk has hit home again for Colgate-Palmolive: the toothpaste player has seen profits squeezed by a 16% fall, much of it – there was a US$174m tax charge – connected to a hurtling Venezuelan bolivar. Total operating profit for Oral, Personal and Home Care dipped to $634m compared to $742m for the same quarter in 2013.
The conundrum for Colgate is that the region generally is home to surging sales, 27% of the total sales pie. Organic sales climbed 6.5% for Colgate overall and 10% on an organic basis in emerging markets, despite the bolivar distraction.