Jan 26, 2009. /Lesprom.com/. Kimberly-Clark Corp. has said 4Q profit fell 8.1% from a year-earlier as the effect of weaker foreign currency exchange rates more than offset organic sales growth of 5%, informed Lesprom Network according to the MarketWatch. The household products maker posted 4Q net income of $419 million, or $1.01 cents a share. A year ago, it earned $456 million, or $1.07. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had expected Kimberly-Clark to earn $1.02 a share. Sales fell 3.4% to $4.6 billion from $4.76 billion. As the worldwide recession has taken hold, Dallas-based Kimberly-Clark has struggled to position its Viva and Scott paper towels against lower-priced generic products, while discount brands in Europe have bitten into its overseas sales. The company said overall sales volumes were below prior year levels due primarily to lower shipments of Huggies diapers and Pull-Ups in North America, as well as the company's consumer tissues and K-C Professional products in North America and Europe. Weaker customer and consumer demand was also hit by "deteriorating economic conditions in these geographies," the company said. "During the 4Q, economic weakness impacted our categories more than anticipated, particularly in North America and Europe," said Chairman and CEO Thomas J. Falk. "We believe some of the effects are temporary, reflecting customer warehouse and consumer pantry inventory reductions; however, consumer trade-down also affected our sales in several categories. We are fine tuning our pricing and promotional plans to ensure we remain competitive, particularly in diapers and training pants in North America. For 2009, the household products maker pegged earnings in the range of $4.00 to $4.20, similar to 2008, "despite significant headwinds from pension expense and currency effect."