Clorox’s ( NYSE: CLX ) annual report affirmed the cleaning product company’s full year sales forecasts, promoting a recovery from a post-pandemic sales slowdown.
“While demand has come down from what we saw at the start of the pandemic, particularly in our cleaning and disinfecting portfolio, we’re a bigger business today than prior to the pandemic, and our cleaning and disinfecting portfolio remains healthy with sales well above pre-pandemic levels,” CEO Linda Rendle said. “Importantly, our brands are stronger today than ever before. A record-high 75% of our portfolio was deemed superior by consumers as measured by our consumer value metric.”
Rendle reiterated the company’s goal of 3-5% sales growth, expressing “high conviction” in management’s ability to deliver on these targets. Net sales had decreased about 3% in 2022, falling back from a pandemic driven surge in demand. Cost-savings, new product releases, and digital sales improvements were noted as key drivers of a return to growth.
“To further support our objectives of driving both growth and productivity, we’ll begin implementing a streamlined operating model in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 to create a simpler, faster company,” Rendle added. “The changes, which complement our digital transformation initiatives, will bring us closer to our consumers and customers so we can more effectively anticipate what’s coming and better meet their increasing expectations, all while driving incremental annual cost savings.
Elsewhere, the newly released annual report highlighted ESG initiatives that include increasing worker safety, reducing GHG emissions, and achieving its “annual pay equity goal across gender globally and races/ethnicities in the U.S.”
Shares of Clorox ( CLX ) have fallen about 25% thus far in 2022, extending declines from a pandemic peak of over $230 per share.
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Clorox reaffirms long-term sales outlook, outlines ESG efforts