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Clorox CEO Pushes to Boost Margins by Controlling What She Can -Breaking

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© Reuters Clorox CEO Pushes to Boost Margins by Controlling What She Can

(Bloomberg) — Clorox (NYSE:) Co. Chief Executive Officer Linda Rendle said she’s committed to rebuilding the company’s margins after a turbulent 20 months of pandemic ups and downs, focusing on raising prices and holding down costs. 

“We’re controlling what we can control,” Rendle, who took the helm last September after 17 years at the firm, said Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg News. Rendle, 43, is currently the youngest female chief executive officer of a company. 

Clorox has slumped from its pandemic-driven high, with shares trading higher than in 2019 but far below last year’s levels. While Clorox is most well-known as a manufacturer of disinfectant wipes or cleaning supplies, the company’s brands span many industries. Clorox also makes Burt’s Bees personal-care products, Brita filtered-water pitchers and Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing. 

Clorox, like many other packaged goods companies, is facing high commodity prices, shortages of labor, and supply chain challenges. According to Clorox’s Oakland headquarters, its gross margin (currently 37%) will decline 3-4 percentage points over the quarter before expanding again during the fourth quarter.

“We have every intention of restoring margins and we believe we can do it,” Rendle said. “I do see these things starting to ease as the global supply chain rights itself. Our mantra is to take every action that we can right now and we can always take additional action.”

The company will increase the prices of 70% of its products in fiscal year to offset rising costs. Some of these items may be increased more than once. Rendle said she’s prepared to raise prices more if needed. “We do think this cost environment is more pervasive than was originally thought months ago,” she said.

Clorox capitalized early in the pandemic on consumers’ worries that the coronavirus spread easily on surfaces, which turned out not to be the case. Even so, Rendle said, the company’s customers are still cleaning more than they did pre-pandemic, with a more normal cold and flu season this winter likely to support use of wipes and sprays.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

 

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