Sales & Earnings In Brief
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Johnson & Johnson continues to slump: Chief Financial Officer and VP of Finance Dominic Caruso says the economic recession continues to impact negatively U.S. consumer buying and distributor inventory levels in the consumer products segment. During the firm's third-quarter earnings call Oct. 13, Caruso said J&J's "core strategy" to overcome the slump is to differentiate its products and develop strong consumer brands. J&J's U.S. consumer business in the July-September period declined 4.4 percent to $1.69 billion, while revenues for the international consumer segment fell 1.4 percent to $2.3 billion. The OTC/Nutritionals division in the U.S. declined 5.9 percent to $732 million, while the international division increased 0.8 percent to $666 million. According to J&J's same-day earnings release, low inventory build of allergy medicines partially offset strong inventory cough-and-cold product builds in anticipation of the flu season, J&J said. Private-label competition also impacted growth, the firm said