The risk of a stronger dollar is becoming as big a concern as commodity inflation for US consumer goods companies ranging from the maker of Huggies nappies to PepsiCo.
Thomas Falk, chief executive of Kimberly-Clark, which makes of Huggies and Kleenex tissues, told analysts last week that currency moves were likely to dent the company’s earnings this quarter just as the negative impact of higher material costs was beginning to abate.
“Commodity costs will be a little bit better [in the] fourth quarter versus [the] third quarter – still higher than last year, but [they] should be sequentially better,” he said. “Currency will be a drag. And so that’ll partially offset [slowing cost inflation].”