Hill’s Pet Nutrition remains steady for Colgate-Palmolive

NEW YORK — Hill’s Pet Nutrition is maintaining steady growth despite current economic uncertainty and challenges, as demonstrated by Colgate-Palmolive’s third quarter financials for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2025.

For Hill’s Pet Nutrition, net sales were reported at $1.14 billion, about a 1% increase from $1.12 billion in the prior year period. Hill’s continues to lead Colgate-Palmolive’s overall sales, with the brand’s net sales representing 22% of the company’s total sales, just 1% behind its Latin America division. Organic sales rose 1.3%, organic volume rose 4.2% and pricing was 2.9%. As mentioned in the company’s second quarter financials for 2025, as of the end of July, Hill’s stopped production of private-label pet food.

Operating profit was reported at $255 million, a decrease of 1% from $258 million in the year prior. Additionally, the February acquisition of Prime100 added about 1.6% to Hill’s volume growth.

For the first nine months of 2025, Hill’s net sales were reported at $3.42 billion, a 1.02% increase from $3.34 billion in the prior year. Organic sales rose 1.2%, organic volume rose 1.8% and pricing was 3%. Operating profit was reported at $778 million, a 1.13% increase from $691 million in the prior year.

Overall, Colgate-Palmolive’s third quarter net sales were reported at $5.13 billion, a 1.02% increase from $5.03 billion in the third quarter of 2024. Organic sales growth was 0.4%. Gross profit was reported at $3.05 billion, a decrease from $3.07 billion in the prior year period. Gross profit margin was 59.4%, a slight drop from 61.1% in the prior year.

Operating profit was reported at $1.06 billion, about a 1% decrease from $1.07 billion in the prior year period. Operating profit margin was 20.6%, a slight drop from 21.2%. Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses were $1.97 billion, a light decrease from $1.98 billion in the prior year.

“We are pleased to have delivered another quarter of net sales and organic sales growth, even in the face of slowing category growth in many markets and the negative impact from lower private label pet sales as we have exited that non-strategic business,” said Noel Wallace, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Colgate-Palmolive.

For the first nine months, net sales were reported at $15.15 billion, a miniscule decrease of about 1% from $15.16 billion in the prior year period. Gross profit was $9.1 billion, about a 1% decrease from $9.2 billion in the prior year period. Gross profit margin 60.1%, a slight decrease from 60.6$ in the prior year. 

Operating profit for the first nine months was reported at $3.214 billion, up slightly from its $3.205 billion profit in the prior year period. Operating profit margin was 21.2%, an increase from 21.1%. Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses were $5.83 billion, the same as the prior year.

The company also shared its full year 2025 guidance, which includes the estimated impact tariffs will have on the company’s performance, that was finalized as of Oct. 29. Colgate still expects net sales to be in low single digits. Organic sales growth is now expected to be between 1% and 2%, roughly in line with year-to-date organic sales growth of 1.2%, versus at the low end of 2% to 4% previously expected in the company’s Q2 financials. This includes an approximately 70 basis point impact from the company’s exit from private label pet sales.

“As we transition to our new 2030 strategy and deploy our previously announced Strategic Growth and Productivity Program, we are well positioned to reaccelerate growth despite uncertainty in global markets and lower worldwide category growth,” Wallace explained. “The 2030 strategy is our blueprint for adapting to the challenges and capturing the opportunities of this more complex operating environment. Our organization is aligned and motivated, with particular focus around accelerating our science-based innovation and omni-channel demand generation capabilities to drive category growth and market shares. The Strategic Growth and Productivity Program will help ensure we have the organizational structure and support we need to achieve our goals in the near term and deliver consistent compounded earnings per share growth over the long term.”

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