Church & Dwight’s 1Q Sales Rise 9.2%

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. said its net sales for the first quarter ended April 2, 2010 increased 9.2% to $634.6 million. Organic sales rose 7.7% for the total group and 8.1% for its domestic and international consumer business, which excludes the impact of foreign exchange rate changes and divestitures.

Net income for the quarter was $80.0 million, up from last year’s reported net income of $62.6 million. Earnings per share increased 21%, excluding a plant restructuring charge of $0.04 per share in 2009.

“We are very pleased with our solid first quarter business results in what continues to be a difficult economic and competitive environment,” said James R. Craigie, chairman and chief executive officer. “Consumer appeal for our high-quality premium and value-oriented products continues to be strong. Both gross margin and operating margin expanded, reflecting the cost savings from our new laundry plant and the continuing benefit of our robust cost reduction programs.”

Consumer domestic sales were $466.7 million, a $28.6 million increase or 6.5% above the prior year first quarter sales. First quarter organic sales increased by 8.1% as a result of higher sales of products such as Arm & Hammer liquid laundry detergent, Nair, Aim toothpaste and Kaboom bathroom cleaner, partially offset by lower sales of Xtra liquid laundry detergent.

Consumer international sales were $102.7 million, a $19.9 million increase or 24% above the prior year first quarter sales. Excluding the 16.2% favorable effect of foreign exchange rate changes, organic sales increased by 8.0%, primarily reflecting increased sales in Canada, Brazil, UK and Australia.

Specialty products sales were $65.2 million, a $5.2 million increase or 8.6% above the prior year first quarter sales.

With regard to 2010, Craigie said, “We are launching our best new product line-up ever in 2010 and the customer response has been excellent with distribution gains across almost every key category. We expect to deliver organic sales growth of approximately 4-5% in 2010 based on our strong pipeline of innovative new products supported by effective marketing programs.”