By Chelsea Stevenson Kimberly-Clark Corp.'s (KMB) second-quarter earnings rose 22% as the consumer-products company saw a slight increase in sales at its personal-care segment and improved margins. The company raised its adjusted per-share earnings target for the year to between $5.05 and $5.40, compared with $5 and $5.15. It also foresees higher organic sales growth. Kimberly-Clark--whose products include Huggies diapers, Scott paper towels and Kleenex tissues--continues to battle tepid demand for its products, particularly in developed markets where a slow economic recovery contributes to a more cost-cautious-consumer environment. The company had forecast some relief from the high commodity prices seen last year, but it is finding it hard for some price increases to stick, especially in its diaper business, which is being pressured by a low birth rate. Growth has occurred in its K-C International business and the company increased strategic marketing spending by $35 million. Kimberly-Clark reported a profit of $498 million, or $1.26 a share, up from $408 million, or $1.03 a share, a year earlier. Excluding items such as restructuring costs, earnings rose to $1.30 from $1.18. Sales edged up 0.2% to $5.27 billion, while organic sales rose 5%. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast earnings of $1.28 a share on revenue of $5.28 billion. Gross margin rose to 33.3% from 29.6%. Sales at the personal-care segment, the largest by revenue, rose 3% and consumer-tissue segment sales were down 5%. The smaller K-C Professional and health-care businesses saw sales decrease 1% and rise 5%, respectively. Shares closed Wednesday at $83.40 and were inactive premarket. The stock is up 25% in the past 12 months. Write to Chelsea Stevenson at chelsea.stevenson@dowjones.com Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
