The paper describes a numerical and experimental study investigating the load carrying capacity of thin-walled composite structure subjected to axial compression. Composite profile was made of carbon-epoxy laminate with symmetrical arrangement of the layers [90/-45/45/0]s. The experiment was performed on a universal testing machine (Zwick Z100) until total failure of the column. In case of experimental study, post-critical equilibrium paths in full range of loads of the structure were determined. The numerical analysis was performed by the finite element method using the Abaqus® software. Numerical analysis involved solving a nonlinear stability problem. The geometrically non-linear problem was solved by the Newton-Raphson method. The load carrying capacity of the composite structure was determined by the progressive failure analysis, which firstly estimates damage initiation load (Hashin criterion) and secondly estimates failure load (energy criterion). The numerical and experimental results show high agreement, which confirms the adequacy of the prepared numerical model of composite profile.