Clorox Reports Q1

Clorox reported first-quarter net earnings of $128 million, or 91 cents diluted earnings per share (EPS), based on weighted average diluted shares outstanding of about $141 million. First-quarter sales grew 12 percent to $1.38 billion, compared with $1.24 billion in the year-ago quarter. Excluding the Burt's Bees acquisition, sales in the current quarter grew 8%.

"I'm extremely pleased with our performance for the quarter, particularly given pressure on the consumer in this difficult economic environment," said Don Knauss, chairman and CEO, Clorox. "We delivered strong sales growth, on top of a high level of growth in the year-ago quarter, and strong earnings growth. Overall, our brands are healthy and the fundamentals of our business are solid."

First quarter total volume increased 4%. Excluding Burt's Bees products, volume was up 1%. Sales growth outpaced volume growth primarily due to the benefit of price increases and favorable product mix. Volume growth in the company's North America segment was primarily driven by Burt's Bees products, Green Works natural cleaners and other select household lines.

The complete report is available here.