MUMBAI: The price of Colgate-Palmolive Co's shares plummeted on Friday after the company reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales despite spending more on advertising and cutting prices.

The world's largest toothpaste maker said gross margins fell to 59.8 percent in the fourth quarter from 60.4 percent a year earlier, hit by higher costs for raw materials and packaging according to a Reuters report.

Colgate said it expects sales growth in 2018 but the forecast did nothing to shake the impression of stagnation that has dogged Colgate and other consumer goods producers in the past year.

Organic sales improved sequentially, but the rate of improvement was less than expected, the company said in a post-earnings conference call.

For 2018, Colgate forecast mid-single digit percentage net sales growth and low- to mid-single-digit organic sales growth, and double-digit earnings per share growth.