The Clorox Company is an American multinational manufacturer of consumer and professional products, based in Oakland, California.
It is publicly listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market, under the stock ticker symbol ‘CLX’.
The company traces its history back to a firm called the Electro-Alkaline Company, created by Archibald Taft, Edward Hughes, Charles Husband, Rufus Myers, and William Hussey in 1913.
Its original product, Clorox, was named after its ingredients chlorine and sodium hydroxide.
In 1928, it went public on the San Francisco stock exchange and changed its name to the Clorox Chemical Company.
Clorox now has a broad portfolio of products, and many of its brands are regular household names.
Some of the Clorox Company’s most well known products include:
Its namesake bleach and cleaning product Clorox Healthcare™, HealthLink ® , Aplicare ® and Dispatch ® products, Green Works ® naturally derived products, Pine-Sol ® cleaners, Poett ® home care products, Fresh Step ® cat litter, Glad ® bags, wraps and containers, Kingsford ® charcoal, Hidden Valley ® and KC Masterpiece ® dressings and sauces, Brita ® water-filtration products, and Burt’s Bees ® and güd ® natural personal care products.
It manufactures its products more than 24 countries and markets them in more than 100 countries.
Overview
- Chairman and CEO: Donald R. Knauss
- Type: Public
- Industry: Consumer Products
- Founded: 1913
- Listed publicly on NASDAQ
- NASDAQ stock ticker symbol: CLX
- Assets: $4.311 billion USD (2013)
- Revenue: $5.623 billion USD (2013)
- Net profit: $572 million USD (2013)
- Diluted earnings per share: $4.30 USD (2013)
- Employees: 8,400 (2013)
- Corporate headquarters: 1221 Broadway, Oakland, California 94612-1888
- Investor relations contact number: (888) 259-6973
- Investor relations email: [email protected]
- Website: http://www.thecloroxcompany.com/
| Earnings (in $ millions) | 2013 | 2012 |
| Net sales | $5,623 | $5,468 |
| Cost of products sold | $3,211 | $3,164 |
| Gross profit | $2,412 | $2,304 |
| Selling and administrative expenses | $807 | $798 |
| Advertising costs | $500 | $482 |
| Research and development costs | $130 | $121 |
| Interest expense | $122 | $125 |
| Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes | $853 | $791 |
| Income taxes on continuing operations | $279 | $248 |
| Earnings from continuing operations | $574 | $543 |
| Net earnings | $572 | $541 |
| Balance sheet data (in $ millions) | ||
| Total assets | $4,311 | $4,355 |
| Total liabilities | $4,165 | $4,490 |
| Stockholders’ equity (deficit) | $146 | $(135) |
| Cash flow data (in $ millions) | ||
| Net cash provided by operating activities | $775 | $612 |
| Net cash used in investing activities | $(55) | $(277) |
| Net cash used in financing activities | $(685) | $(321) |
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of year | $299 | $267 |
| Common share data (in $) | ||
| Basic earnings (loss) per common share | $4.37 | $4.14 |
| Diluted earnings (loss) per common share | $4.30 | $4.09 |
Source: “The Clorox Company 2013 Form 10-K Annual Report”