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

Having said that, we will continue to remain focused on the velocity of our cost to make sure that our portfolio is as productive as possible. That’s one of the tenants of our partnership with our retailers to make sure that we continuously work with them to optimize our assortment and make sure that our assortment is as productive as possible for them and for us. So, on the Skin Health & Beauty and Essential Health segment, I would say that when you take out the impact of discontinuation and that’s what may not have been fully reflected in external forecast. And I feel very good about the underlying strength of our brands and our equities in – across our portfolio. If you look at Skin Health & Beauty with volume up low-single digits this quarter with strong value realization with some room to go in terms of distribution points in the U.S. specifically, that makes us very confident in the future of this business.

Steve Powers: Okay. Very good. Thank you. And if I could, just on the topic of investment levels, just curious for a little bit more additional perspective, now that you have been operating independently, just your comfort with planned investment levels and to some extent, where you expect to prioritize those investments over the balance of the year?

Paul Ruh: Steve, thank you for the question. Nothing has changed in terms of our investment philosophy as we are now an independent company versus before. What we strive to do is maximize return on our investment, and we continued to invest solidly in our brands whether it is through advertising, through healthcare professional representations, promotional impact. So, we balance all of that in the most effective way that maximizes the return on investment. So, we are very encouraged by the performance and we will continue to fuel the growth of our brands through a balanced investment approach.

Steve Powers: Thank you very much.

Operator: Thank you. Our next questions come from the line of Navann Ty with BNP Paribas. Please proceed with your question.

Navann Ty: Hi. Good morning. Can you discuss and tell us more about the supply chain improvements that benefited the second quarter and do you expect them to benefit the rest of the year? My second question is, and apologies if I missed it, can you detail the breakdown of pricing versus mix within the 9% value realization? And just a third one, if you could comment on Kenvue recent dialogue with J&J regarding monetizing the stake in Kenvue with – has there been any change? Thank you.

Paul Ruh: Okay. So, on the price/mix question, we don’t disclose the mix between the two. On the supply chain improvement, whether we expect some benefits in the balance of the year? The answer is absolutely yes. We have invested in the more capacity and more resiliency of our supply chain. We continue to do that. As a result of that, we have significantly improved our service levels across the portfolio. Are we fully where we want to be, not yet, so it will continue to be a focus area for us to improve service levels, but we are pleased with the progress so far, and we would expect the back half of the year and beyond to continue to benefit from these investments we have made in our supply chain in terms of capacity, resiliency, automation, all working in the right direction.

That will also include – that also includes even stronger partnerships with our retail partners to do some joint business planning and make sure that we get the right signal demand, to make sure that we operate our supply chain efficiently, but making sure that we have always products available on shelf for consumers when they need us.

Thibaut Mongon: And Navann, on your question about the split from Johnson & Johnson, at this point, you – also that Johnson & Johnson has announced their intention for the next step of the separation of Kenvue. Unfortunately, we are very limited on the information that we can provide other than what has already been made public. I can tell you that we are fully ready. We have been operating independently, and we are very excited about the future.