Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

We have, as I have said, a continuous arsenal of ideas that we put in place in terms of total end-to-end network optimization. And of course, the carryover of the pricing that we have put in place will help us offset the steel inflationary, yet diminishing commodity headwinds. We feel very good about our ability that we have demonstrated to maintain very healthy gross margins.

Peter Grom: No, that’s super helpful. And then maybe shifting gears to China. I would just be curious kind of what you are seeing in that market? How did performance in the quarter prepare or compare versus your expectations? And I guess maybe specifically, as you move through the quarter or around the exit rate, are you seeing any signs of improved demand that gives you confidence that there can be better performance on the horizon or would you expect trends to remain choppy there for a period of time?

Thibaut Mongon: Yes. Maybe I can take this one. We have been in China for a very long time as a business. I have myself lived for many, many years in Asia. So, you are not in Asia or in China for the short-term. And I can tell you that we are positive about the long-term prospects of our business in China. When I look at our performance in China this quarter, I think it’s another great example of the power of the Kenvue portfolio. I can tell you that we grew double-digit in China this quarter. Strong performance in our Self Care segment. We see softness in other categories, but it’s something that we anticipated. We have never been in the camp of those who thought that China will recover overnight. Unfortunately, we have been proven right.

And we would expect a slow recovery in these categories that – where we see softness today. But we are very confident in the ability of this market to continue to deliver performance, and we see that again in this quarter with double-digit growth, and that’s the power of the Kenvue business model and Kenvue portfolio.

Peter Grom: Thank you so much. I will pass it on.

Operator: Thank you. Our next questions come from the line of Jason English with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed with your questions.

Jason English: Hey. Good morning folks. Thanks for taking me in and I will echo some of the other’s, congrats on your first quarter as a public company. I got a couple of questions. First, let’s pick up kind of where we just left off on geography. You mentioned China up double digit. I think APAC sales overall were only up 1.3%. So, what was the offset? And then as we look at EMEA, you started the year really strong with 9.3% growth and it slowed to around 3.5% this quarter despite what looks like it should have been a pretty moderate or much less owners FX headwind, can you unpack that performance there as well? Thanks.

Thibaut Mongon: Hey Jason. Thank you for the question and thank you for your thanks for the strong quarter we delivered. So, in Asia, we see competitive dynamics, we see category dynamics happening that had the negative impact on part of our business in the second quarter. I mentioned the mouthwash category where we see decline in both China, Japan and other parts of Asia. We are gaining share in China and Japan, but the categories are suffering, as we speak. India had a soft quarter and emerging markets in general, we saw softness there. So, that’s for Asia. For EMEA, we are very pleased with the performance of our business in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Across our portfolio, we see our brands doing well, strong demand for our products in both Self Care and Skin Health. With obviously opportunities in some places as always, but overall, pleased with the performance of our European region this quarter and this first half.