Colgate-Palmolive Company

Good morning. Welcome to today's Colgate-Palmolive second quarter 2024 earnings conference call. This call is being recorded and is being simulcast live at www.colgatepalmolive.com. Now, for opening remarks, I'd like to turn this call over to Chief Investor Relations Officer and Executive Vice President, M&A, John Fauché.

Thanks, Drew. Good morning, and welcome to our second quarter 2024 earnings release conference call. This is John Fauché. Today's conference call will include forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from these statements. Please refer to the second quarter 2024 earnings press release and related prepared materials and our most recent filings with the SEC, including our 2023 annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings, all available on Colgate's website, for a discussion of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. This conference call will also include a discussion of non-GAAP financial measures, including those identified in Tables 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the earnings press release. A full reconciliation to the corresponding GAAP financial measures is included in the second quarter 2024 earnings press release and is available on Colgate's website. Joining me on the call this morning are Noel Wallace, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, and Stan Satula, Chief Financial Officer. Noel will provide you with some thoughts on our Q2 results and our 2024 outlook. We will then open it up for Q&A.

Noel? Thanks, John, and thanks for joining us this morning, and I look forward to taking your questions in regards to our strong Q2 results. As part of our ambition to deliver consistent compounded earnings growth, We have talked about the importance of driving balanced organic sales growth, all six divisions, all four categories, and with a combination of volume and pricing growth. We have revamped our innovation model, leveraged our global strength across price tiers, invested in marketing spend, and scaled new exciting capabilities across the organization, all of which is driving brand health and household penetration. This is particularly important given the pricing we have taken over the past few years. Our return to mid-single-digit volume growth this quarter, including growth at both Hills and Hawley and Hazel, highlights some early success from this strategy. And this is well-timed. We are returning to strong volume growth as gross margins are expanding, which will drive the incremental gross profit that funds the investment in brands and capabilities while still delivering compelling bottom-line growth. We're also using data and analytics tools, including AI, to track the effectiveness of these activities as we look to further optimize the return on our increased spending. This is a topic we'll be discussing more over time. With this combination of increased penetration and the continued success of our revenue growth management strategy, we have the plans in place to drive consistent, balanced, top-line growth. We combine that with the benefits of operating leverage, productivity, and cost discipline to turn that into consistent, compounded earnings per share growth. Along with strong cash flow to fund investment, dividends, and share repurchases, we believe this leaves us well-positioned to drive top-tier TSR. Our recent results show the strength and effectiveness as we continue to execute against this strategy. And with that, I'll open it up to questions.