DALLAS—Kimberly-Clark Corp. reported net sales in the first quarter (1Q) of 2010 increased 7.6 percent to $4.8 billion, including an approximate 5 percent benefit from stronger foreign currency exchange rates. Organic sales rose 2 percent, with sales volumes and net selling prices each up 1 percent. The combined impact of the I-Flow Corp. and Jackson Safety acquisitions completed in 2009 added an additional point of sales growth in the quarter. The organic volume growth was highlighted by an 8-percent increase for the company's global health care business, and a 5-percent gain for K-C's international operations in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa.
Chairman and CEO Thomas J. Falk, said: "We are off to a solid start to the year with our first quarter results. Organic sales rose 2 percent, and we delivered strong improvements in gross margin and adjusted earnings per share, including excellent contributions from our ongoing cost savings program and last year's organization optimization initiative. In addition, we strengthened our brands by launching a number of innovations in the first quarter and by significantly increasing strategic marketing spending. Our targeted growth initiatives, particularly in our K-C International business and in health care, continued to progress well. Finally, we continued to deploy cash flow in shareholder-friendly ways, including raising our dividend by 10 percent and resuming our share repurchase plan. All-in-all, we are off to a good start to 2010."