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Colgate-Palmolive (CL) FY2025 results: revenue $20.4 billion, up 1.4% on the year

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) reported revenue of $20.4 billion for fiscal 2025, the year ended 31 December 2025, up 1.4% on the year before. Net income was $2.1 billion, down 26.2%, and diluted earnings per share $2.63. The figures are the company's own, from the 10-K it filed with the SEC on 23 February 2026.

Revenue
$20.4 billion
+1.4% on the year
FY2018FY2025
Operating margin
16.2%
21.2% a year earlier
FY2018FY2025
Net income
$2.1 billion
-26.2% on the year
FY2018FY2025
Diluted EPS
$2.63
-25.1% on the year
FY2018FY2025

this yearthe year beforeHover a bar for its figure.

The year in brief

What management said about the year

Guidance figures: 4 new.

  • Full-year EPS fell on impairment: Diluted EPS was $2.63, down 25% from $3.51, driven by the skin health impairment charges. Base Business EPS rose 3% to $3.69.
  • Oral care and pet led growth: Management said net and organic sales grew in every category in the quarter, led by oral care and pet nutrition excluding private label.
  • Gross margin edged down: Gross profit margin was 60.2% in the quarter on both GAAP and Base Business bases, each down 10 basis points; full-year gross margin was 60.1%.
  • After-tax impairment of $794 million: Goodwill and intangible impairment was $919 million pre-tax; the after-tax charge was $794 million, taken in the fourth quarter for the skin health business.
  • Lower category growth and China weakness: Management cited lower than expected category growth and performance below expectations, particularly in China, for the skin health business.
Read the Q4 FY2025 earnings call summary

From this 10-K

Colgate-Palmolive sells toothpaste, toothbrushes, soaps, deodorants, household cleaners and pet food. Its products are marketed in over 200 countries and territories. The company was founded in 1806 and incorporated in Delaware in 1923. There are two product segments: Oral, Personal and Home Care, and Pet Nutrition. Of worldwide net sales in 2025, oral care was 44 percent, pet nutrition 23 percent, personal care 17 percent and home care 16 percent.

Colgate-Palmolive Co., the 10-K for 2025

Colgate-Palmolive sells toothpaste, toothbrushes, soaps, deodorants, household cleaners and pet food. Its products are marketed in over 200 countries and territories. The company was founded in 1806 and incorporated in Delaware in 1923. There are two product segments: Oral, Personal and Home Care, and Pet Nutrition. Of worldwide net sales in 2025, oral care was 44 percent, pet nutrition 23 percent, personal care 17 percent and home care 16 percent.

Oral care

The company describes itself as a leader in oral care, with global leadership in toothpaste and manual toothbrushes on market share data. Toothpastes are sold as Colgate, Darlie, elmex, hello, meridol, Sorriso and Tom's of Maine; toothbrushes as Colgate, Darlie, elmex and meridol; mouthwashes as Colgate, elmex and meridol. The business also supplies pharmaceutical products to dentists and other oral health professionals. Oral care is a substantial part of the company's business in Asia Pacific.

Personal care

The company reports global leadership in liquid hand soap, sold as Palmolive, Protex and Softsoap. Around that sit Irish Spring, Palmolive and Protex bar soaps, Irish Spring, Palmolive, Sanex and Softsoap shower gels, Lady Speed Stick, Sanex, Speed Stick and Tom's of Maine deodorants and antiperspirants, EltaMD, Filorga and PCA SKIN skin health products, and Palmolive shampoos and conditioners.

Home care

Dishwashing liquids under Ajax, Axion and Palmolive, household cleaners under Ajax, Fabuloso and Murphy, and fabric conditioners under Suavitel, Soupline, Fluffy and Cuddly.

Hill's Pet Nutrition

Hill's sells specialty nutrition for dogs and cats in over 80 countries and territories, mainly under three brands. Hill's Science Diet, called Hill's Science Plan in Europe, covers everyday nutrition. Hill's Prescription Diet is therapeutic food for animals at different stages of health. Prime100 is a fresh pet food brand sold to pet specialty and other retailers in Australia.

How it reaches buyers

Oral, personal and home care products go to retailers, wholesalers and distributors worldwide; pet nutrition goes through authorised pet supply retailers, veterinarians and online retailers; some products are sold direct to consumers. Selling is done by a direct sales force at the individual operating subsidiaries and business units and by distributors or brokers, supported by advertising, promotion and other marketing with growing weight on digital. Sales to Walmart and its affiliates were approximately 11 percent of net sales in 2025, and no other customer was above 10 percent. The filing describes a market increasingly defined by traditional and digital retail merging, with subscription services and direct-to-consumer businesses adding competition for attention, and notes growing dependence on certain key retailers, some with greater bargaining strength and exclusive access to their own consumer data.

Materials and competition

Most raw and packaging materials are bought from other companies and available from several sources, with no single material or supplier accounting for a large part of requirements, though certain key materials come from single or limited sources; qualifying a new supplier against industry, government or the company's own standards, including responsible sourcing, can take investment and time. Commodity inputs named are resins, essential oils, tropical oils, pulp, tallow, corn, poultry and soybeans, all subject to market price swings. Competitors are multinational and local, some with greater resources or more agility, alongside retailers' private label brands and new entrants selling direct to consumers. Trademarks are treated as material to the business and protection is sought wherever the products are sold; no single patent is treated as important to the business as a whole.

People

There were approximately 33,600 employees based in over 100 countries at the end of 2025, with over 84 percent of them outside the United States, and approximately two-thirds of what the company earns comes from markets outside the United States.

From Colgate-Palmolive's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025. The filing

Written from the 10-K filed 23 February 2026: read the full 10-K.

The four quarters: Q1 FY2025 · Q2 FY2025 · Q3 FY2025 · Q4 FY2025

Income statement (profit and loss)

$ millionFY2025FY2024FY2023On the yearLast 8 years
Revenue20,38220,10119,457+1.4%
Cost of revenue8,1317,9408,131+2.4%
Gross profit12,25112,16111,326+0.7%
Gross margin60.1%60.5%58.2%
Research and development366355343+3.1%
Selling, general and administrative7,9037,7297,151+2.3%
Operating income3,3064,2683,984-22.5%
Operating margin16.2%21.2%20.5%
Interest expense267292287-8.6%
Pre-tax income3,0593,9563,392-22.7%
Income tax798907937-12.0%
Effective tax rate26.1%22.9%27.6%
Net income2,1322,8892,300-26.2%
Net margin10.5%14.4%11.8%
Diluted EPS$2.63$3.51$2.77-25.1%
$ million except per share.
Read moreFree cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Those four are arithmetic on the filed numbers; everything else is as filed. Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and share counts are as they are.

Cash flow

$ millionFY2025FY2024FY2023On the yearLast 8 years
Operating cash flow4,1984,1073,745+2.2%
Capital expenditure564561705+0.5%
Free cash flow3,6343,5463,040+2.5%
Free cash flow margin17.8%17.6%15.6%
Cash from investing-817-534-742
Cash from financing-3,256-3,389-2,793
Depreciation and amortisation630605567+4.1%
Share-based compensation155135122+14.8%
Buybacks1,2101,7391,128-30.4%
Dividends paid1,8231,7891,749+1.9%
Dividend per share$2.08$2.48$1.91-16.1%
Diluted shares, weighted811m823m829m-1.5%
Shares outstanding at period end801m813m821m-1.4%

Balance sheet

$ millionFY2025FY2024FY2023On the yearLast 8 years
Shareholders' equity54.0212609-74.5%
Non-controlling interest311332348-6.3%
Debt7,9887,9498,549+0.5%
Operating lease liabilities448456420-1.8%
Other liabilities7,5297,0976,467+6.1%
Total liabilities and equity16,33016,04616,393+1.8%
Fixed assets4,6604,4224,582+5.4%
Goodwill3,1223,2723,410-4.6%
Intangible assets1,5361,7561,887-12.5%
Investments107160179-33.1%
Cash and equivalents1,2881,096966+17.5%
Receivables1,6751,5211,586+10.1%
Inventory2,0321,9871,934+2.3%
Other assets1,9101,8321,849+4.3%
Total assets16,33016,04616,393+1.8%

10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025, filed 23 February 2026: the filing.