Clorox Cuts FY17 Earnings, Sales Growth Forecast - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Clorox Co. (CLX), a manufacturer of consumer and professional products, Wednesday said it now anticipates fiscal year 2018 earnings per share from continuing operations to be in the range of $5.47 to $5.67, a decrease of 5 cents, versus the prior range of $5.52 to $5.72.

On average, 17 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect earnings of $5.64 per share for the year. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company said the revision includes an estimated 10-cent impact related to the hurricanes, which is expected to be partially offset by the continued strength of the company's underlying business performance.

Further, the company now anticipates sales growth in the range of 1 percent to 3 percent versus the previously communicated sales outlook of 2 percent to 4 percent. This reflects a reduction of slightly less than 1 point in the fiscal year from the company's divestiture of the Aplicare business in late August 2017, with the first full-quarter impact beginning in the second quarter.

Gross margin is now expected to be down slightly for the fiscal year, which was previously expected to be up slightly. The margin will have a significant impact from increased cost pressures related to the recent hurricanes, especially in the second and third quarters.

Chief Financial Officer Steve Robb said, "We've updated our fiscal year outlook to reflect the Aplicare divestiture's impact on sales, the hurricane-related impact on costs and the strength of our execution and underlying business performance. We believe our 2020 Strategy, which includes a sharp focus on cost savings and continued strong brand investments behind product innovation and digital marketing, will help us work through these short-term headwinds."

In its first quarter, net earnings per share growth from continuing operations increased 7 percent and sales growth was 4 percent.