Colgate-Palmolive downgraded on lower Q1 expectations

A leading US analyst has downgraded its rating for Colgate-Palmolive, stating that Wall Street earnings expectations for the first quarter were too high.

Although Colgate-Palmolive has weathered the financial crisis much better than other personal care players, Caris & Co. analyst Linda Bolton Weiser beleives the strength of the US dollar will dampen international sales.

The analyst cut her rating for the company from ‘buy’ to ‘above average’, stating that currency translation is likely to impact earnings potential.

At the end of January Colgate-Palmolive announced that net income for the quarter was $497.0m, up from $414.9m in the same quarter last year, while worldwide sales grew 0.5 percent to reach $3.66bn.

The results came despite a major decline in global economic activity during the quarter, and initially prompted the company to state that it was relatively confident about its outlook for the rest of 2009.