Kimberly-Clark Falls on Reduced Forecast

DALLAS (TheStreet) -- Shares of consumer products giant Kimberly-Clark (KMB) fell 5% Monday after the maker of Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissue lowered its 2011 earnings and sales forecast.

Kimberly-Clark trimmed its adjusted profit outlook to $4.80 to $4.90 a share. It previously said earnings would come in toward the lower end of the range of $4.80 to $5.05 a share.

The company said it expects revenue in 2011 to rise 4% to 6%. It previously expected a revenue increase of 5% to 7%.

Third-quarter earnings fell 8% from a year earlier to $432 million, or $1.09 a share. Adjusted earnings were $1.26 a share, in line with analysts' estimates. Revenue increased 8% to $5.38 billion as the company was forced to raise prices to help offset a rise in commodities costs.

"Our focus on targeted growth initiatives, revenue realization and cost reduction allowed us to overcome significant input cost inflation and softer-than-expected demand in portions of the developed markets," said Chairman and CEO Thomas Falk, in a statement.

The company said it expects key cost inputs of $575 million to $625 million compared to a previous assumption of $650 to $750 million, primarily because of lower pulp costs. But the costs are still higher than a year earlier, and Kimberly-Clark said it still expects to raise prices through the fourth quarter.

Shares of Kimberly-Clark fell 5%, or $3.64, to $69.36. The stock year to date is up almost 16%.

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



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