Kimberly-Clark Corporation has reported a 6% growth in organic sales in its financial year 2020, as volumes grew by 4% and net selling prices and product mix grew by 1%.
Full-year net sales amounted to $19.1 billion (€15.8 billion), up 4% compared to 2019.
The company's adjusted operating profit increased 9% to $3.6 billion (€3 billion) in 2020 from $3.3 billion (€2.7 billion) in 2019.
Chairman and chief executive officer, Mike Hsu said, "In 2020, we grew organic sales 6%, with healthy underlying performance and increased demand because of COVID-19. We also significantly increased brand investments and improved our market share positions.
"I'm extremely proud of what our teams accomplished while staying relentlessly focused on employee health and safety and meeting the needs of our consumers during this unprecedented time period."
Fourth Quarter Performance
In the fourth quarter, Kimberly-Clark generated net sales of $4.8 billion (€4 billion), up 6% compared to the same period last year.
The company's overall organic sales increased by 5% in full year 2020. In North America, the consumer products division saw organic sales grow by 11%, while K-C Professional reported a 7% decline.
Outside North America, organic sales rose 3% in developing and emerging (D&E) markets and 2% in developed markets.
Outlook
In 2021, Kimberly-Clark expects net sales to increase 4% to 6%, including organic sales growth of 1% to 2%.
Hsu added, "Going forward, we will continue to execute K-C Strategy 2022. We expect to further improve our market positions by building on our current momentum and leveraging our enhanced commercial capabilities.
"At the same time, we will continue to operate with financial discipline. We expect more challenging category conditions and higher commodity costs in 2021. That said, we remain very optimistic about our strategies to deliver balanced and sustainable growth over time and create long-term shareholder value."
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
