Clorox earnings fall 4.2% on costs

Clorox Co., maker of Glad trash bags and its namesake bleach, said fiscal second-quarter profit fell 4.2% on higher costs to make salad dressing and plastic bottles.

Net income declined to $92 million, or 65 cents a share, the Oakland-based company said. Profit beat analysts’ estimates. Clorox cut its full-year earnings forecast because of higher expenses and a decision to exit a private-label business.

Shares of Clorox fell $2.36, or 3.7%, to $60.73. They have dropped 6.8% this year.

The company said it would increase prices on Glad trash bags and GladWare containers. Clorox already has raised prices on Hidden Valley salad dressings, Kingsford charcoal and Armor All and STP auto-care products.

Clorox cut its profit forecast for the 12 months through June to $3.20 to $3.35 a share from $3.33 to $3.50. Sales will rise 6% to 7%, the maker of Scoop Away and Fresh Step cat-litter products said.

Revenue in the three months through Dec. 31 increased 7.7% to $1.19 billion, helped by sales from the purchase of Burt’s Bees and a bleach business, Clorox said. That exceeded the average analyst estimate of $1.16 billion.

Clorox said it earned 69 cents a share, excluding costs from changes to its production network and the purchase of Burt’s Bees.

Analysts had estimated profit of 58 cents, the average of projections compiled by Bloomberg.

A year earlier, Clorox had net income of $96 million, or 62 cents a share. The higher per-share earnings number comes from a lower outstanding-share count.

Clorox’s purchase last year of Burt’s Bees, a Durham, N.C.-based maker of soap, lip balm and hand cream, for $925 million was its biggest in nine years.