Clorox 4Q Earnings Slip 1.2% On Commodity Cost Pressure

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Clorox Co.'s (CLX) fiscal fourth-quarter earnings edged down 1.2% as the consumer-products maker saw margins weighed down by steep commodity costs and warned those pressures are expected to accelerate.

"In fiscal 2012, we anticipate substantially higher commodity cost increases and other inflationary pressures than we saw in fiscal 2011," said Chief Financial Officer Dan Heinrich. "As a result, we will be taking broad price increases across our global portfolio."

The company recently sought to fend off repeated advances from activist investor Carl Icahn, who offered to buy the company while suggesting other consumer-product makers put up their own bids. Last month, Clorox's board unanimously rejected Icahn's latest bid, saying the roughly $10.7 billion offer undervalued Clorox and lacked credibility.

For the quarter ended June 30, Clorox reported a profit of $169 million, down from $171 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, earnings rose to $1.26 from $1.20 as shares outstanding decreased. Earnings from continuing operations rose to $1.26 from $1.05.

Net sales edged up 3.7% to $1.48 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share earnings from continuing operations of $1.19 on revenue of $1.47 billion.

Gross margin fell to 43.5% from 44.3%, driven by higher commodity costs.

Sales of cleaning products, Clorox's largest segment by revenue, rose 3.5%. Sales in the company's household-products business edged up 0.6%.

Shares closed Tuesday at $70.29 and were inactive premarket. As of the latest close, the stock has risen 11% in the past year.

-By Mia Lamar, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3207; [e-mail]