Chattem
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Net sales declined 4.6% to $79.6 mil. for the second fiscal quarter (ended May 31), while earnings rose 6% to $6.1 mil. For the half, sales slid 2.8% to $142 mil., and earnings rose 2.9% to $9.2 mil. Results were impacted by low sales of Ban antiperspirant. Chattem has earmarked its entire Ban ad spend for the Ban Naturals second half launch and thus aired no ads in the first half. The company also attributed the sales downturn to the poor performance of Sunsource dietary supplements. Chattem earlier had predicted overall sales would fall 4%-6.5% (1"The Rose Sheet" June 19, In Brief). Sales for the remaining brands rose 4.1% for the quarter and 5.5% for the half. Upcoming introductions include Gold Bond Fragrance Free Lotion, which will bow in fiscal third quarter with marketing support in the fourth