Earnings Call Excerpt
Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (CHD)
Q2 2008 Earnings Call
November 4, 2008 10:00 am ET
Executives
Jim Craigie - Chairman and CEO
Matt Farrelll - CFO
Analysts
Alice Longley - Buckingham Research
Douglas Lane - Jefferies & Company
Bill Chappell - Suntrust
Bill Schmitz - Deutsche Bank Securities
Mili Seoni - JPMorgan
Connie Maneaty - BMO Capital Markets
Joe Altobello - Oppenheimer
Nik Modi - UBS
Jason Gere - Wachovia
Andrew Sawyer - Goldman Sachs
Presentation
Operator
Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Church & Dwight Third Quarter 2008 Earnings Conference Call.
Before we begin, I have been asked to remind you that on this call the company's management may make forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, the company's financial objectives and forecasts. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors that are described in detail in the company's SEC filings.
I would now like to introduce your host for today's call, Mr. Jim Craigie, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Church & Dwight. Please go ahead sir.
Jim Craigie
Thank you, Chantal and good morning to everyone. It's always a pleasure to talk to you particularly when we have good results to report. I'll begin this call by providing my perspective on our excellent third quarter, which you've read about in the press release issued this morning.
Let me start off by saying that I'm very proud of my company for both the quality and magnitude of our results particularly in this recessionary worldwide business environment. Our business results reflect an organization that is highly motivated and firing on all cylinders. Our new product pipeline and increased marketing spending is driving strong organic growth despite softening consumer demand.
Our business teams and supply chain organization are working closely together to deliver exceptional growth margin expansion despite the volatility in commodity prices. Everyone is continuing to keep it tight around on overhead costs. This is proven by the fact that we have the same number of employees today as we had four years ago despite of 50% increase in sales during that time.
We are squeezing every dollar out of our working capital to drive a significant increase in cash flow. That increased cash flow and strong balance sheet is also enabling us to smartly invest in our future through accretive bolt-on acquisitions and building new plants to further lower our cost structure and strengthen our competitive advantage.
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