Colgate Supports Estimates After Procter & Gamble Warns
Colgate-Palmolive
(CL)
reaffirmed its first-quarter and 2001 earnings estimates after competitor
Procter & Gamble
(PG)
lowered guidance for the second half of the fiscal year.
Analysts polled by
First Call/Thomson Financial
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expect Colgate to earn 43 cents a share in the first quarter and $1.91 for the year. Colgate executives will offer more information on the company's performance at the
Merrill Lynch Global Branded Consumer Products Conference
on Tuesday.
Procter & Gamble said a weakening Turkish lira will push down earnings in the third fiscal quarter. The company expects a profit for the quarter of 69 cents to 72 cents. Analysts expect the company, which is based in Cincinnati, to earn 72 cents in the third quarter and $3.15 for the year. Procter & Gamble said earnings for the year will be four to five cents below its previous expectations, which puts the company at the low end of Wall Street's estimates. In January, P&G said it was "comfortable with the high end" of analysts' expectations.
Turkey, which is experiencing political, as well as financial instability, is Procter & Gamble's 12th largest business. The country represents more than $400 million in annual sales.
Procter & Gamble slipped $4.53, or 6%, to $70.50 on the
New York Stock Exchange
. Colgate, which is based in New York, lost 43 cents, or 0.7%, to $57.97.
