On Monday, leading consumer products company,
Church & Dwight Co. Inc
. (
CHD
) posted better-than-expected third-quarter 2012 results. The
company's quarterly earnings of 66 cents a share came ahead of
the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 59 cents and jumped 22.2% from 54
cents earned in the prior-year quarter.
The company's top line increased 3.5% to $725.2 million and
surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $719 million,
reflecting a 4.6% rise in organic sales. The strengthening of
organic sales represents a 4.5% growth in volume and a positive
effect of 0.1% through pricing and product mix.
Revenue Segments
Consumer Domestic's net sales elevated 4.8% to $530.4 million,
driven by increases in household products, which marked a rise of
7.6% in revenue to $360.4 million, partially offset by 0.7%
decline in personal care products to $170 million.
On an organic basis, sales rose 4.8% during the quarter,
reflecting higher sales of ARM & HAMMER liquid laundry
detergents. Moreover, higher sales of XTRA liquid laundry
detergent, ARM & HAMMER cat litter, TROJAN products, NAIR
depilatories, OXICLEAN Laundry Additives and ARM & HAMMER
CRYSTAL BURST boosted sales. This was, however, partially offset
by sluggish sales of ARM & HAMMER SPINBRUSH battery-operated
toothbrushes, ARRID deodorant and ANSWER diagnostic kits.
Increases in organic growth represent a 5.2% improvement in
volume, while product mix and pricing unfavorably impacted sales
by 0.4%.
Consumer International's sales strengthened 2% year over year to
$131.1 million. On an organic basis, sales rose 6.7% attributable
to healthy sales in Europe and Australia. The rise in organic
revenue reflected 6.6% growth in volume coupled with an increase
of 0.1% through favorable product mix and pricing.
Specialty Products' sales decreased 4.0% year over year to $63.7
million. Moreover, on an organic basis, sales inched down 0.9%,
reflecting 4.7% contraction in volume, partially offset by a
favorable contribution of 3.8% from product pricing. The positive
impact on pricing was a result of recovery of input costs through
customers.
Margins
Gross profit increased 5.7% to $327.5 million compared with
$309.9 million in the prior- year quarter. Moreover, gross margin
expanded 100 basis points to 45.2%, reflecting productivity
programs and strong performance by new products launched and
in-house production of unit dose detergent. Further, price
increases in cat litter contributed favorably to margins.
Operating income escalated 15.1% year over year to 145.4 million
during the quarter. Moreover, operating margin expanded
approximately 200 basis points to 20%, reflecting a 70
basis-point decline in SG&A as a percentage of net sales.
Avid Health Acquisition
During the quarter, the company completed the acquisition of Avid
Health Inc., maker of gummy vitamins and supplements, for $650
million in cash.
The company funded the acquisition with a mix of debt including
$400 million Senior Notes at 2.875% scheduled to mature in 2022
and commercial papers, and cash. Also, the company added that the
Avid acquisition will be accretive to the earnings in 2013 and
will boost the bottom line by 4% to 6%.
Moreover, the acquisition will expand the product categories of
the company and facilitate it to gain market share in one of the
fastest growing segments of the vitamin/mineral/supplement (VMS)
business. Avid is the market leader in gummy form VMS
business along with strong sales trend, which tripled over the
last three years.
Other Financial Details
Church & Dwight, which faces stiff competition from
Clorox Corporation
(
CLX
), ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $241.2
million, long-term debt of $649.4 million and shareholders'
equity of $2,058.2 million.
The company announced a new $300 million share repurchase program
supplementing the existing program. The company has $20 million
left under the previous share buyback program announced in August
2011.
Moreover, the company generated operating cash flow of $315.9
million, reflecting a decline of 1% year over year for the
nine-month period ended on September 30, 2012, and incurred $49.7
million in capital expenditures.
Outlook
Excluding the impact of the Avid acquisition, the company expects
innovative new product launches to continue boosting organic
sales in 2012, and anticipates organic growth to be 4.5%.
Church & Dwight forecasts cost savings programs to offset the
increases in commodity prices and expects gross margin to rise at
the lower end of its targeted 25 - 50 basis points rise in fiscal
2012.
Management anticipates earnings per share to be 55 cents for the
fourth quarter, significantly down from the Zacks Consensus
Estimate of 61 cents. Further, including the impact of the Avid
acquisition, Church & Dwight now expects earnings to be $2.43
per share (excluding charges of 9 cents related to deferred tax
valuation in 2011) in fiscal 2012, indicating an increase of 15%
year over year. Moreover, for fiscal 2013, the company expects
earnings to be between $2.74 and $2.79 per share, up 13-15% year
over year.
Church & Dwight maintains a Zacks #2 Rank, which translates
into a short-term 'Buy' rating.
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