Price rises help boost Colgate sales and profit
Price rises helped the owner of the Colgate toothpaste brand boost its sales and profit in 2024 as it sought to mitigate the increase in costs.
The UK arm of Colgate-Palmolve has posted a revenue of £362.3m for its latest financial year, up from the £334.3m it achieved in 2023.
New accounts filed with Companies House also show its pre-tax profit improved from £32.9m to £37.1m over the same period.
The group, whose parent is in the US, also counts Sanex, Hill’s Pet Nutrition and PCA Skin among its brands.
In a statement signed off by the board, Colgate-Palmolve said: “The operating results for 2025 are expected to improve due to higher revenue.
“We are expecting a slightly lower or flat return on investment in the year.”
During the year the amount of corporation tax the company paid to the UK Treasury increased from £3.4m to £4.5m.
It also received a dividend of £17.5m from its US parent, up from £15.6m.
The company’s finance income also grew from £2.4m to £3m.
Colgate owner’s shares slip on weak profit
For the same financial year, the wider Colgate-Palmolve group reported a turnover of $20.1bn, a rise of 3.3 per cent.
Its operating profit also increased by seven per cent in the year from $3.9bn to $4.2bn.
However, shares in the New York-listed group slipped this week after posting weaker profit during the first quarter of its current financial year.
Its net sales in the quarter also fell by 3.1 per cent to $4.9bn.
Chairman president and chief executive Noel Wallace said: “Colgate-Palmolive people delivered another quarter of organic sales and earnings per share growth in the face of very difficult market conditions worldwide.
“The positive organic sales growth, in a period of slowing category growth in many markets, is a testament to the strength of our brands and our commitment to executing against our strategy.”
The UK arm of Colgate-Palmolve has been based in Surrey since 1989 while the company also has an office in Manchester.
The Colgate brands dates back to 1873 and was founded by William Colgete in the US.