Colgate-Palmolive Co reported lower-than-expected sales for the last quarter of 2015, hurt by a strong dollar and weak demand in Latin America. The company, which gets more than three-fourths of its revenue from outside the United States, has been raising prices to counter the impact of the stronger dollar. But that has taken a hit on volumes in regions such as Latin America, the company's biggest market by sales.
The average value of the dollar rose 11.7 percent against a basket of currencies in the quarter, compared with a year earlier. The company raised prices by 13 percent in Latin America in the three months ended December 31, pushing down volumes by 4 percent. Total net sales fell 7.6 percent to $3.90 billion. Analysts on average had expected revenue of $3.93 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company reported a loss of $458 million, or 51 cents per share, compared with a profit of $628 million, or 68 cents per share.