Skin care stays solid as J&J posts Q4 increase
J&J announced sales of $16.3bn for the fourth quarter of 2011, an increase of 3.9 percent as compared to the same period last year, and although the skin care segment is not the largest contributor to this figure, it posted a steadier performance than some of J&J’s other categories.
The Skin Care business grew 6.6 percent on an operational basis in the fourth quarter of 2011, with sales in the US up 14.5 percent and sales outside the US up 1.3 percent.
New products bring success
“[This was] primarily due to the success of Neutrogena new product launches,” according to vice president of Investor Relations, Louise Mehrotra.
Baby care products also posted slight growth when compared to the fourth quarter of 2010 due to increased sales of hair care and cleansers, partially offset by lower sales of lotions and creams, according to Mehrotra.
However, as Mehrotra mentioned, Neutrogena skin care was the stand out performer, particularly in J&J’s Consumer business, which posted sales of $14.9bn, a one percent decrease.
“For Consumer, we saw an operational sales decline of just less than 1 percent, given the remediation and supply issues associated with our US OTC business,” said CEO Bill Weldon.
Strong stuff from skin care
“Our Consumer business saw solid growth in certain franchises like skin care, with strong performances from the Neutrogena brand.”
“Our Consumer segment continues to innovate with new products, business models and a growing presence in emerging markets, while getting its OTC business back in shape, relaunching many of the brands that made the business a global leader,” he added.
Joining Neutrogena skin care products as the positive contributors to operational results were international sales of over-the-counter medicines; baby care products; and Listerine antiseptic mouthrinse.
The strong skin care performance will come as no surprise to J&J following a similar finding in its third quarter results, as skin care helped spare the blushes in the Consumer business once more.
With sales just short of a billion dollars, the Skin Care business aided the overall segment sales which reached $16bn in the third quarter, consistent with the two previous quarters which posted sales of $16.2bn and $16.6bn.
