The Clorox Company announced that its board of directors increased the quarterly cash dividend on the company's common stock by nearly 11%, from 64 cents to 71 cents per share. The dividend will be payable on August 9, 2013, to stockholders of record as of July 24, 2013.

The Clorox Company reported unaudited consolidated earnings results for the third quarter and nine months ended March 31, 2013. For the quarter, the company reported net sales of $1,413 million against $1,401 million for the same period in the last year. Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes were $202 million against $198 million for the same period in the last year. Earnings from continuing operations were $134 million or $1.00 per diluted share against $134 million or $1.02 per diluted share for the same period in the last year. Net earnings were $133 million or $1.00 per diluted share against $132 million or $1.01 per diluted share for the same period in the last year. Current-quarter results reflect a negative impact of 6 cents diluted EPS driven by double-digit declines in charcoal volume and sales due to unfavorable weather conditions, as well as a negative impact of 5 cents diluted EPS from unfavorable foreign currency exchange rates. An increase in advertising and sales promotion and a higher effective tax rate versus the year-ago quarter also impacted the company's results. These factors were partially offset by the benefit of strong cost savings and price increases, as well as lower selling and administrative expenses, primarily driven by lower spending for the company's information technology (IT) systems implementation in Latin America and lower employee incentive compensation costs. Sales grew 1% primarily due to the benefit of price increases, with growth in three out of four reportable segments. Lower charcoal volume reduced third-quarter sales by 1.5 percentage points. Sales were also impacted by nearly 1 percentage point from unfavorable foreign currency exchange rates. Excluding these factors, total company sales grew 3% in the third quarter. For the nine months, the company reported net sales of $4,076 million against $3,927 million for the same period in the last year. Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes were $584 million against $540 million for the same period in the last year. Earnings from continuing operations were $390 million or $2.94 per diluted share against $369 million or $2.78 per diluted share for the same period in the last year. Net earnings were $389 million or $2.94 per diluted share against $367 million or $2.77 per diluted share for the same period in the last year. Year-to-date net cash provided by continuing operations increased to $486 million from $333 million in the prior-year period. The year-over-year increase was due primarily to favorable changes in working capital, the year-ago settlement of interest rate forward contracts and higher earnings. For the fiscal year 2013, the company anticipates free cash flow of about 10% of sales, with capital expenditures expected to be about $180 million. The company defines free cash flow as cash provided by continuing operations less capital expenditures. The company anticipates year-over-year sales growth for fiscal 2013 in the range of 3% to 4%, but likely toward the lower end of the range of the previously given guidance of 3% - 5%. This includes a negative impact of about half a percentage point from lower charcoal sales due to significant category declines related to unfavorable weather conditions. In addition, the range reflects strong results in the first half of the fiscal year and a more challenging comparison to strong sales growth of nearly 6% in the second half of fiscal 2012. The sales outlook also reflects the impact of declining foreign currencies and continued economic uncertainty in Argentina and Venezuela. The company continues to expect earnings from continuing operations before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin to increase 25-50 basis points for the fiscal year, reflecting strong cost savings and the benefit of price increases, unchanged from previous guidance. Commodity costs are estimated to be about flat versus the prior fiscal year. The outlook also reflects a continued increase in advertising and sales promotion investments and a higher tax rate in the fourth quarter versus the same period in fiscal 2012. Net of all these factors, the company continues to anticipate fiscal 2013 diluted EPS from continuing operations in the range of $4.25 to $4.35, unchanged from previous guidance. The company provided earnings guidance for the full year of fiscal 2014. The company anticipates sales growth for fiscal 2014 in the range of 2% to 4%, which reflects a negative impact of 1 percentage point from foreign currency declines in Argentina and other countries. The company's sales outlook also reflects continued product innovation and demand-building programs across the company's brands. The company anticipates EBIT margin to increase 25-50 basis points, reflecting strong cost savings of about 150 basis points and lower selling and administrative expenses, moderated by about 1 percentage point of higher commodity costs. The company's outlook also reflects an impact of about 5-10 cents diluted EPS related to continued market challenges in Argentina and Venezuela, including the effect of high inflation on manufacturing and logistics costs and price controls limiting the company's ability to offset inflation, as well as the recent currency devaluation in Venezuela. This outlook does not include a contingency for any additional currency devaluation in Venezuela. The company anticipates a higher effective tax rate of 34% to 35% for fiscal 2014. Net of all these factors, the company anticipates fiscal 2014 diluted EPS from continuing operations in the range of $4.55 to $4.70.

The Clorox Company, Q3 2013 Earnings Call, May 01, 2013