Kimberley Clark posts just 1% hike in 2012 sales

- Cash provided by operations in the fourth quarter of 2012 was an all-time record $1,119 million, up 116 percent compared to the prior year.

- Adjusted earnings per share in 2013 are expected to be $5.50 to $5.65, up 5 to 8 percent compared to 2012. Adjusted earnings per share in 2013 exclude costs for the European strategic changes.

- The company expects to increase its dividend at a high-single digit rate effective April 2013. This will represent the company's 41st consecutive annual increase in the dividend.

- Share repurchases are anticipated to total $1.0 to $1.2 billion in 2013.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Falk said, "Our fourth quarter results capped off a year of excellent performance for Kimberly-Clark. For the full year of 2012, we delivered organic sales growth of 5 percent, highlighted by 10 percent growth in K-C International. We launched a number of product innovations and increased strategic marketing spending by $115 million and research and development spending at a double-digit rate.

“We improved adjusted gross margin by 230 basis points and adjusted operating profit margin by 90 basis points, aided by $335 million of cost savings from our ongoing FORCE program and restructuring actions. We grew adjusted earnings per share by 9 percent, above our original plan for the year and at the high end of our long-range target. Finally, we generated very strong cash flow, which allowed us to return $2.5 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Overall, we had a very good year of financial performance and I'm encouraged by the progress we made in 2012."

Falk added, "The strength of our results this past year gives us added confidence that we will continue to execute our Global Business Plan well going forward. In 2013, we will continue to pursue targeted growth initiatives, launch product innovations and support our brands with increased strategic marketing spending. We expect to achieve healthy levels of cost savings, which should help us overcome moderate commodity cost inflation. We will continue to manage our company with financial discipline, including a strong focus on cash generation and shareholder-friendly capital allocation. We are optimistic about our plans and continue to believe that successful execution of our strategies will generate strong returns to shareholders."

Kimberly-Clark