Church & Dwight sees Q2 adjusted EPS 83c, consensus 92c

“For Q2, we expect reported sales growth of approximately 3.5% and organic sales growth of approximately 4.0% reflecting higher couponing in support of our new products. We expect moderate gross margin expansion, increased marketing spending to support our innovation pipeline, higher SG&A expense and a significantly higher tax rate (24%) compared to the prior year (17.9%) when our tax rate benefitted from a high level of stock option exercises. As a result, we expect reported EPS of $0.81 and Adjusted EPS of $0.83 per share, down 10% versus last year’s adjusted Q2 EPS.”