Clorox Company (The)

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Clorox Company fourth quarter fiscal year 2023 earnings release conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. At the conclusion of our prepared remarks, we will conduct a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, you may press star 1 on your touchtone pad at any time. If anyone should require assistance during the conference, please press star 0 on your touchtone pad at any time. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's call, Ms. Lisa Burhan, Vice President of Investor Relations for the Clarks Company. Ms. Burhan, you may begin your conference.

Thanks, Ross. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. On the call with me today are Linda Rendell, our CEO, and Kevin Jacobson, our CFO. I hope everyone has had a chance to review our earnings release and prepared remarks, both of which are available on our website. In just a moment, Linda will share a few opening comments, and then we'll take your questions. During this call, we may make forward-looking statements, including about our fiscal 2024 outlook. These statements are based on management's current expectations, but may differ from actual results or outcomes. In addition, we may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to the forward-looking statement section, which identifies various factors that could affect such forward-looking statements, which has been filed with the SEC. In addition, please refer to the non-GAAP financial information section of our earnings release and the supplemental financial schedules in the investor relations section of our website for reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. Now I'll turn it over to Linda.

Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We closed out fiscal year 2023 with strong results, underscoring the significant progress we've made against our strategic priorities. Over the course of the year, we've been relentlessly focused on driving top-line growth and rebuilding margins in a challenging operating environment while continuing to invest in the long-term health of our brands, categories, and capabilities. Thanks to our team's strong execution across a comprehensive set of actions, we delivered on these commitments. For fiscal year 2023, we generated net sales growth of 4% within our long-term target, gross margin expansion of 360 basis points, and adjusted EPS growth of 24%. Our performance reflects our commitment to driving operational excellence and margin improvement, supported by the strength and resilience of our portfolio and the relevance of our Ignite strategy. In addition to delivering results over the short term, we made progress on our Ignite strategy. The investments we're making to deliver consumer-inspired innovation, strengthen the superior value of our brands, advance our digital transformation, and streamline our operating model are positioning us to drive long-term profitable growth. As we look ahead to fiscal year 2024, we are clear on our priorities. While we expect the environment to remain difficult with macroeconomic uncertainty persisting, we are committed to building on our progress and have plans to enhance our value superiority at a time when it matters most to consumers. We believe these actions will enable us to continue to drive top-line growth and rebuild margins back to pre-pandemic levels. and put us in a position to grow share and helpful penetration over the long term. I'm confident we're taking the appropriate actions to build a stronger, more resilient company positioned to win in the marketplace, deliver on our operational and financial goals, and create long-term value for stakeholders. With that, Kevin and I will take your questions.