Oakland, CA
510.271.7000
www.thecloroxcompany.com

Sales: $3.1 billion for household, personal care and industrial and institutional products. Corporate sales: $5.6 billion. Net income: $574 million for the year ended June 30, 2013.

Key Personnel: Donald R. Knauss, chairman and chief executive officer; Benno Dorer, executive vice president and chief operating officer, cleaning, international and corporate strategy; George C. Roeth, executive vice president and chief operating officer, household and lifestyle; Frank A. Tataseo, executive vice president, professional products, mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and information technology; Jon Balousek, senior vice president/general manager, specialty division; Thomas P. Britanik, senior vice president, chief marketing officer; Michael Costello, senior vice president, international division; Wayne L. Delker, senior vice president, chief innovation officer; James Foster, senior vice president, chief product supply officer; Jacqueline P. Kane, senior vice president, human resources and corporate affairs; Ralph Loura, senior vice president, chief information officer; Stephen M. Robb, senior vice president, chief financial officer; Laura Stein, senior vice president, general counsel; Nick Vlahos, senior vice president, chief customer officer; Dawn Willoughby, senior vice president, general manager, cleaning division.

Major Products: Household—Clorox, Formula 409, Liquid-Plumr, Pine Sol and Green Works cleaning products; Personal care—Burt’s Bees.

New Products: Clorox Smart Seek Bleach, Clorox 4 in One disinfecting spray, Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, Tub & Shower, Clorox Fraganzia Bleach, Clorox Pool & Spa products, Burt’s Bees CallaLily lip balm, Carefree Lip Shine and Lip Gloss in Harvest Time (part of Target’s Made To Matter Collection).

Comments: Corporate sales increased 3% last year, driven by higher shipments in the professional products business, which rose, in part, on the strength of healthcare and cleaning. Also providing a lift were the sales of new concentrated bleach products and Burt’s Bees. Those gains were partially offset by lower sales of Clorox 2 bleach. The company said cleaning product sales rose 5% to nearly $1.8 billion.

For the nine months, sales and net earnings were essentially flat at $4.0 billion and $388 million, respectively. The company noted that household business was hurt by lower shipments primarily due to the distribution loss of Clorox disinfecting wipes at a major retail customer and heightened competitive activity in the disinfecting wipes category. They were partially offset by distribution gains at other key retailers; and lower shipments of Green Works home care and laundry products, primarily due to distribution losses and continued category softness. These decreases were partially offset by higher shipments of cleaning and healthcare products in the professional products business, and higher shipments of Clorox liquid bleach behind strong category growth following last year’s conversion to the new concentrated formula and product innovation.

For fiscal 2014, Clorox expects sales to be down slightly due to weakness in its US retail business, including lower-than-anticipated charcoal sales in the back half of the fiscal year, as well as foreign currency declines, including the Venezuela devaluation.

As it closes the books on 2014, Clorox is looking into the future with, apparently, 20/20 vision. Its “2020 Strategy”calls for growing net sales 3-5% annually, expanding earnings before interest and income taxes (EBIT) margin 25-50 basis points annually and generating free cash flow of 10-12% annually.

To meet or exceed all of those goals, Clorox brass is focused on four strategies:

• Engage its people as business owners;
• Increase brand investment behind superior products and more targeted 3D plans;
• Grow into profitable new categories, channels and countries;
• Fund growth by reducing waste in its work, products and supply chain.