Church & Dwight Posts Gains in Q3

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. said third quarter net sales grew 13.9% to $1.24 billion as it continued to experience a significant increase in consumer demand for many of its products, primarily in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organic sales grew 9.9% driven by a volume increase of 10.2%, partially offset by 0.3% from unfavorable product mix and pricing in support of new products. Volume growth was driven by higher consumption and restocking of retailer inventories.
 
“Q3 was an extraordinarily strong quarter for Church & Dwight. Both our household and personal care businesses delivered higher volume growth as consumers and retailers focused on core essentials. Our brands experienced strong consumption in Q3 and we continue to see similar strength in October,” said Matthew Farrell, CEO.  “The pandemic drove double digit consumption growth in most domestic categories, especially gummy vitamins, women’s hair removal, cleaners, and baking soda.”
 
Farrell said that “restrictions on consumer mobility” continued to suppress certain categories such as condoms and dry shampoo, however he noted “significant sequential improvement in Q3.”
 
According to Farrell, consumption of water flossers was flat in Q3 and positive for October, after experiencing double-digit declines in Q2.
 
“Year-to-date shipments and consumption are generally in balance for our brands. However, retailer in-stocks continue to lag normal levels for some brands, including gummy vitamins, baking soda, and cleaners. Online sales as a percentage of total sales continued to grow rapidly and reached 13% of sales in Q3, up from 8% last year. The International business had a strong quarter despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, with extremely strong and broad-based consumption increases across many countries and brands,” he noted.
 
Q3 consumer domestic net sales were $954.6 million, a 15.3% increase driven by household and personal care sales growth. Organic sales increased 10.7% due to higher volume (+11.1%), offset by lower price and product mix (-0.4%) as a result of increased promotion and couponing for new products.  Consumer international net sales were $213.6 million, a 14.6% increase versus the prior year. Organic sales increased 11.6% due to higher volume (+11.7%). Organic sales growth was driven primarily by the firm’s global markets group and Canada.
 
Church & Dwight’s specialty products (items like specialty chemicals and food production) net sales were $72.8 million, a decline of 3.4%.  
 
Capital expenditures for the first nine months were $54.6 million, a $14.9 million increase from the prior year. Full year capex spending is expected to be approximately $100 million, reflecting plans for expansion in manufacturing capacity for laundry, litter, and vitamins, said Church & Dwight.
 
Farrell  said that “innovation continues to be a big driver of our success.” He cited newly launched like Vitafusion gummy vitamins, Arm & Hammer Clean & Simple laundry detergent, and Nu Razor from Flawless, among other products.
 
Farrell is bullish on the company’s upcoming year. “2020 is shaping up to be another outstanding year for Church & Dwight. The company is well positioned in the current economic environment and the future, due to a combination of being in the right categories and having a balance of value and premium brands and the ability to make investments,” he said.
 
Church & Dwight has raised its full year outlook; it expects approximately 11% full year 2020 sales growth (previously 9-10%) and approximately 9% organic sales growth (previously 7-8%).