Clorox Q2 Sales Down 9 Pct As Shipments, Consumer Purchases Slow

The Clorox Company reported a 9 percent overall drop in year-to-year sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, ending June 30, pointing to slow shipments and a decrease in consumer spending as they worked through their pandemic stockpile of cleaning supplies.

International sales were up 5 percent for the quarter, while sales in health and wellness (17 percent drop), household (down 8 percent) and lifestyle (3 percent decrease) were all lower than the same time in 2020.

For fiscal 2021, Clorox reported overall sales growth of 9 percent.

“Fiscal year 2021 was an extraordinary year for Clorox, with the pandemic putting us through the test of volatility, including rapid changes in consumer demand and inflationary pressure, which is reflected in our fourth quarter results,” said CEO Linda Rendle in a statement.

Clorox invested in “eCommerce, data-driven personalization and innovation” in fiscal 2021, said Rendle, moves that helped the company to grow year-over-year despite its struggles in the last three months of the year. In particular, the company’s eCommerce business has doubled in the last two years.

Clorox is making “key multiyear investments to accelerate our digital transformation” in fiscal 2022, she said. Starting in fiscal year 2022, Clorox expects to invest about $500 million in its digital capabilities over the next five years, including about $90 million in fiscal year 2022. That includes replacing the enterprise resource planning system.

Clorox projects sales to be down 2 to 6 percent in fiscal 2022, based on lower sales in the first half of the year.

Related: Pandemic Stockpiles Deflate Kimberly-Clark Q2 Earnings

Kimberly-Clark’s second-quarter net sales for the three-month period ending June 30 of $4.7 billion represents a 2 percent increase over the same period in 2020, but organic sales fell in the quarter by 3 percent. The lackluster performance has Kimberly-Clark looking at an organic sales dip of up to 2 percent overall in 2021.

Kimberly-Clark’s personal care segment was up 13 percent to $2.5 billion in Q2, while the consumer tissue segment dropped by 13 percent year-over year to $1.4 billion. The K-C Professional segment was up 6 percent to $800,000.

For the first six months of 2021, Kimberly Clark sales were down 2 percent to $9.5 billion.