By Chelsey Dulaney 

Kimberly-Clark Corp.'s revenue slid less than Wall Street expected in the third quarter, while profit came in above forecasts despite the continued impact of currency volatility.

The Dallas-based company lifted the bottom end of its earnings guidance for the year by 5 cents a share, to a range of $5.70 to $5.80 a share.

But the maker of Huggies diapers, Kleenex tissue and Scott toilet paper said it now sees currency cutting 10% to 11% off sales for the year, compared with its previous guidance for a 10% impact.

Excluding currency rates, Kimberly-Clark expects organic sales to be up 4% to 5%, compared with its previous call for 3% to 5% growth.

Kimberly-Clark has said it is trying to raise prices in some countries to make up for the currency impacts.

In the third quarter, organic sales--which exclude acquisitions, divestments and the effect of currency moves--grew 5%, driven by growth in developing and emerging markets and an improvement in the company's North American personal-care business.

In all, Kimberly-Clark reported a profit of $517 million, or $1.41 a share, down from $562 million, or $1.50 a share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items, per-share earnings ticked up to $1.51 from $1.50 a year earlier, helped by fewer shares outstanding.

Sales fell 6.7% to $4.72 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast $1.49 a share in earnings on $4.68 billion in revenue.

In the U.S., Kimberly-Clark has struggled over the past year to claw back market share in Huggies diapers, which have lost ground to Procter & Gamble Co.'s Pampers and Luvs brands.

The company's adult-incontinence products, sold under the Depend and Poise brands, also have been under assault from P&G, which last year re-entered the incontinence business

In the latest quarter, sales at Kimberly Clark's personal-care segment, which includes both baby and adult diapers, slid 5% to $2.4 billion, as a 13% currency impact offset 7% volume growth.

Sales at the consumer-tissue segment, which includes Cottonelle and Kleenex, fell 10% to $1.5 billion. An 11% currency impact offset 2% volume growth.

Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com

 

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 21, 2015 08:54 ET (12:54 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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