Clorox names longtime executive its new CEO, as company beats estimates on pandemic-led demand

Clorox named its president and longtime executive, Linda Rendle, as chief executive officer on Monday as it beat estimates for quarterly results on the back of rising spending on disinfectant and other cleaning products due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sales of makers of hygiene products, including Procter & Gamble and England’s Reckitt Benckiser, have seen a sustained boom since the start of lockdowns, as people focused more on cleaning their homes, hands and goods.

Sales at Clorox’s health and wellness division, which accounted for over 40% of total sales and includes cleaning products and supplements, rose 33%.

Makers of household essentials such as hygiene and food products, Clorox also forecast flat to low single-digit increase in sales and mid-single-digit decline to mid-single-digit jump in profit for fiscal 2021.

Excluding one-time items, Clorox earned $2.41 per share, beating Wall Street expectations of $1.99 per share, sending its shares up 3%.

Clorox said net sales rose to $1.98 billion from $1.63 billion in the fourth quarter ended June 30, beating Wall Street expectations of $1.87 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Rendle has been with Clorox for nearly two decades, while Dorer would step down after about six years as CEO to make way for her in September. Dorer would continue as the chair of the board.