Kimberly-Clark Malaysia's marketing director exits

Kimberly-Clark Malaysia's (KCC) marketing director, Martina Jezdikova, has left her role to join Heineken in a similar capacity for Czech Republic. Jezdikova (pictured) was based in Malaysia for three years and replaced Nitish Gupta who is now MD for Vietnam and the IndoChina cluster at Kimberly-Clark. 

"Jezdikova was a valuable member of Kimberly-Clark Malaysia. She led a strong team of 20 that is laser-focused on consumer needs and successfully drove the growth of many of our portfolios within the Kotex, Huggies, Kleenex, and Scott business-to-market leadership positions. We thank Jezdikova for her contributions and wish her great success for the future," the spokesperson said. A successor has yet to be named.

Jezdikova was previously in Bahrain for over four years before moving to Malaysia. In Bahrain, she took on roles including marketing director, Middle East and North Africa and marketing director, Gulf Cooperation Council. She has been with Kimberly-Clark for 18 years, starting off as brand activation manager in 2005 before working her way up the ranks.

Kimberly-Clark reported net sales of US$5.1 billion during the second quarter of 2022, marking a 7% increase compared to the year-ago period, including organic sales growth of 9%. Organic sales increased 9% as net selling prices rose 9%, product mix increased sales 1% and volumes declined 1%. Outside North America, organic sales rose 8% in developing and emerging markets and 9% in developed markets. In North America, organic sales increased 11% in consumer products and increased 8% in K-C Professional.

Second quarter operating profit was US$621 million in 2022 and US$613 million in 2021. Excluding the charges related to the 2018 Global Restructuring Programme, 2021 adjusted operating profit was US$676 million.

Chairman and CEO Mike Hsu said its reults reflect ongoing market volatility and significant input cost inflation. "We continue to be thoughtful with our response to inflation, focusing on providing value to our consumers while leveraging price and cost discipline to mitigate macro headwinds for margin improvement over time," he added.

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