Acquisitions Propel Church & Dwight

Church & Dwight Co. on Tuesday posted a nearly 12 percent increase in its third-quarter profit, helped by higher selling prices and acquisitions. The Princeton-based consumer-products company—which makes Arm & Hammer baking soda and Brillo soap pads, among other goods—said its net income rose to $38.7 million, or 57 cents a share, in the three months ended Sept. 29.

That’s up from $34.6 million, or 51 cents a share, in the prior third quarter.

Sales increased 17 percent to $518.6 million from $442.7 million.

Sales were boosted by last year’s acquisition of SpinBrush battery powered toothbrushes from Procter & Gamble Co., a skin-care business in Brazil, and the recent purchase of Orange Glo laundry additives and household cleansers. Excluding acquisitions and foreign exchange, sales would have risen 2.5 percent.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had forecast, on average, earnings of 49 cents a share on sales of $503.1 million for the latest quarter.

Net income for the nine months of the year rose to $115 million, or $1.71 a share, from $106.7 million, or $1.58 a share, for the same period in 2005. Excluding a charge and items, earnings for the 2006 period would have been $1.75 a share, compared to $1.57 a share for the prior period.

Church & Dwight earlier this year raised prices on liquid laundry detergents, deodorizing products and pet-care products to offset higher costs of raw materials.

The unexpectedly strong results allowed Church & Dwight to raise its full-year forecast to a range of $1.98 a share to $2 a share. That’s up from a prior target of $1.95 a share. Wall Street had expected earnings of about $2 a share.