Kimberly-Clark De Mexico Says Weak Peso Curbed 1Q Net Profit

Paper-goods company Kimberly-Clark de Mexico SAB (KIMBER.MX) said Thursday that higher raw-materials costs, a weaker Mexican currency and expenses related to an acquisition ate into its first-quarter profitability.

The maker of Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissues said its net profit slipped 3% on the year to 931 million pesos ($70 million). Excluding non-recurring expenses related to the January acquisition of Evenflo baby products, the company said its net profit would have declined just 1%.

The quarterly net profit also reflected a higher tax rate.

Sales rose 8% in the quarter to MXN7.17 billion, driven by higher volume sales. The company said that efforts to achieve greater operating efficiencies and to contain costs aided its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, which rose 1% to MXN1.86 billion.

On the cost side, although some raw materials have shown a decreasing trend in dollar terms, others, such as oil, were higher on the year, the company said.

The peso's 9% depreciation versus the dollar compared with the year-ago quarter also affected raw-materials costs.

The peso ended March at MXN12.80 to the dollar, compared with MXN11.60 a year earlier.

-By Amy Guthrie, Dow Jones Newswires; 5255-5980-5177; [e-mail]

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