Clorox weighs price increases on products in response to inflationary costs

KEY POINTS

• Clorox CEO Linda Rendle told CNBC's Jim Cramer that the company is considering raising shelf prices and other measures to combat inflationary costs.
• "We'll activate our long-standing cost savings program and ensure that we're delivering that across our businesses," she said in a "Mad Money" interview.
• Rendle expects that some higher input costs can be canceled out as temporary expenses related to Covid-19 drop off.

Clorox is considering higher shelf prices for its cleaning products as the company confronts inflationary costs.

In an appearance on CNBC Friday, CEO Linda Rendle told Jim Cramer the bleach producer, whose sales accelerated amid the ongoing health crisis, is facing higher costs in inputs like resin and transportation.

"We'll activate our long-standing cost savings program and ensure that we're delivering that across our businesses," she said on "Mad Money." "We're looking at price increases, although we're being very measured and taking that in a category-by-category approach and, of course, we'll focus on innovation and margin-accretive innovation."

Rendle, who began leading Clorox in September, is forecasting that the inflationary environment will persist beyond the current quarter. She is expecting some costs to be canceled out as other temporary expenses related to Covid-19 drop off with global economies recovering.

The Federal Reserve said it would not move to combat inflation until the labor market has recovered losses from Covid-19 lockdowns.

"We're focused on the long term," Rendle said. "We're going to manage through this tough cost environment, but we're confident in our ability to accelerate long-term profitable growth."

Clorox reported mixed results in its fiscal third-quarter Friday morning. Revenues were flat from a year ago, which comes after four straight quarters of double-digit growth spurred by the pandemic. The stock fell almost 2% to $182.50 during the session.

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