Clorox bets on strong inventory to help overcome cyber attack hit

By Juveria Tabassum

(Reuters) -Clorox said on Wednesday it expects to rebuild customer inventory levels by the end of the current quarter, as it recovers from an August cyberattack that threw its order fulfillment facilities out of gear for more than a month.

Shares of the cleaning supplies maker rose over 6% in extended trade, reversing earlier losses.

The company topped market expectations for first-quarter revenue, and posted a surprise profit against market expectations of a loss.

Clorox (NYSE:) said that it expects second-quarter organic sales to be up mid-single digits as restocking customer inventory levels help soften the blow from lost consumption.

For the first quarter ended Sept. 30, the company posted a profit of 49 cents, as it benefited from multiple rounds of price hikes taken over the last two years. Analysts had expected it to post a loss of 22 cents, as per LSEG data.

The Pine-Sol manufacturer was among several companies including gambling giants MGM Resorts (NYSE:) International and Caesars (NASDAQ:) Entertainment to be hit by cyber attacks since August. Clorox had anticipated its first-quarter results to be impacted by the shipping delays caused by the incident.

Still, the attack took a toll on the company’s annual profit and revenue forecasts, as well as gross margin growth expectations.

With Clorox’s products off the shelves for a short period in September due to the attack, CFO Kevin Jacobsen told Reuters that private label brands made some inroads into the company’s market share.

The company now expects an annual adjusted profit between $4.30 and $4.80 per share, compared with its previous forecast of $5.60 and $5.90 per share.

Clorox expects net sales to be down mid-to-high single digits, as against its previous forecast of flat to 2% up.