Clorox, the prominent producer of bleach and cleaning products, has issued a warning regarding a significant dip in its sales and profit for the quarter ending September 30. The company attributes this drastic decline predominantly to the reverberations of a cyberattack that severely disrupted operations.
The company shared that it anticipates a reduction in net sales of between 23% and 28%. Moreover, Clorox projects that its gross margin for this quarter will be lower compared to the same period last year. According to estimates, there will be a per share loss ranging from 35 cents to 75 cents, while on an adjusted basis, the loss could reach up to 40 cents per share.
The damaging cyberattack, first reported by Clorox in August, continues to inflict pain on production processes albeit at a decreasing rate. Despite these challenges, Clorox expressed optimism that it will begin reaping benefits from restocking retailer inventories as it gradually improves fulfillment during the current quarter.
The extent of the impact that the cyberattack might have on the current fiscal year and subsequently is still under evaluation by Clorox. The company conveyed in a securities filing in September that the attack had widespread ramifications. While repairs were made to operational systems, many procedures had to be executed manually by Clorox, resulting in slower product fulfillment. However, Clorox assures that the threat is now under control.
Bloomberg disclosed on Wednesday that Clorox’s suspected attacker was Scattered Spider – a hacker group linked to recent cyberattacks on casino firms MGM and Caesars. Like Clorox, MGM also expressed concerns in September about potential material effects on their finances due to the cyberattack.