Thibaut Mongon, CEO of Kenvue Inc. a Johnson & Johnson consumer-health enterprise, speaks throughout an interview with CNBC throughout his firm’s IPO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), May 4, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Kenvue CEO Thibaut Mongon is betting on model and product innovation to drive development on the newly spun-out firm after its strong debut on the general public market Thursday.
“In the next quarter and frankly, in the years to come, we are going to continue to do what we do best, which is innovating to find new ways to serve consumers and help them take better care of their health,” Mongon advised CNBC in an interview shortly after shares of Kenvue began buying and selling on the New York Stock Exchange.
associated investing information
Shares of the corporate gained 22% Thursday to shut at $26.90 per share. The inventory hovered round that degree in early buying and selling Friday, giving the corporate a market worth of roughly $50 billion.
Kenvue, spun out of Johnson & Johnson, carries a packed portfolio of extensively recognized manufacturers, similar to Band-Aid, Tylenol, Listerine, Neutrogena, Aveeno and J&J’s namesake child powder.
Ten of Kenvue’s manufacturers booked roughly $400 million or extra in gross sales final yr, in keeping with a preliminary prospectus the corporate filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission final week.
But Mongon advised CNBC that Kenvue’s portfolio of manufacturers has “ample opportunity” to develop.
The firm’s plans for product innovation contain new science and applied sciences to develop new merchandise that meet the precise wants of customers in a approach that hasn’t been executed earlier than, in keeping with Mongon.
Kenvue has a crew of round 1,500 analysis and growth professionals who determine new methods to reinforce a given product.
Mongon believes product innovation finally makes Kenvue’s manufacturers “more relevant than ever” to customers as they higher goal their wants.
“There is no limit for you to take care of your health in a better way and there is no limit for us to invent products and solutions to help you do that,” Mongon advised CNBC.
As an instance, Mongon pointed to a sunscreen launched underneath the Neutrogena model. The firm designed the product, Neutrogena Invisible, to mix into the pores and skin with out creating the unflattering chalky white residue most sunscreens depart behind, eliminating a shopper ache level for making use of the safety.
As a outcome, Mongon stated, that product might attain customers who might not frequently use conventional sunscreen.
“That’s our contribution to the world. To provide these consumers with a solution: Strong sun protection but also great aesthetics,” Mongon stated. “That should make more people use sunscreen on a regular basis, which we know is so important for the skin.”
The firm has launched greater than 100 new product improvements annually since 2020, in keeping with the corporate’s prospectus. Product improvements launched over the last three years have accounted for round $1.5 billion of Kenvue’s web gross sales, the corporate stated in its submitting.
Mongon stated the corporate will “keep pushing the envelope” to launch new merchandise within the upcoming years.
Brand innovation
Kenvue will use a “digital-first approach” to ship extra customized experiences with the corporate’s manufacturers, in keeping with Mongon. That consists of new e-commerce and direct-to-consumer companies.
The model Zyrtec, for instance, has its personal allergy forecast app known as “AllergyCast.” Zyrtec is a drug designed to alleviate allergy signs similar to watery eyes, runny nostril, sneezing and itching.
Mongon stated Kenvue designed the app to assist customers handle their allergic reactions, permitting them to trace pollen ranges and their allergy signs. The app can finally predict how extreme a given shopper’s allergic reactions will probably be based mostly on their location, climate situations and symptom historical past.
“You will receive messages that allow you to understand and manage your symptoms better,” Mongon advised CNBC. “That’s part of the innovation that we focus on at Kenvue.”
Kenvue additionally designed the “SmartCheck” digital ear scope underneath the model Tylenol, a drugs that reduces fever and treats minor aches and pains.
SmartCheck is a private ear scope system and app that turns a smartphone into an otoscope, which is used to look into ears. The app permits customers to take a recording of a kid’s probably contaminated eardrum and ship it to a healthcare supplier or telehealth service for analysis.
But Kenvue famous within the preliminary prospectus that persevering with to develop service and product choices by “digital initiatives” might expose the corporate to extra dangers, together with potential technical failures, cybersecurity incidents and shopper privateness and knowledge safety issues.
M&A is not dominated out
When requested in regards to the potential for mergers and acquisitions, Mongon stated Kenvue is primarily targeted on natural development.
But he stated the corporate is not utterly ruling out M&A sooner or later.
He famous that Kenuve has a robust monitor document of figuring out the precise manufacturers out there that would complement the corporate’s portfolio in a optimistic approach.
“If we see an opportunity that makes sense strategically and financially we will move thanks to the healthy balance sheets that we have,” Mongon stated.
Kenvu recorded whole property of greater than $27 billion as of Jan. 1, on a professional forma foundation, excluding the influence of the prices related to the general public providing, and whole liabilities of roughly $16 billion.
The firm recorded whole debt of round $9 billion as of the beginning of the yr.
Kenvue raked in $14.95 billion in gross sales for 2022 and a web revenue of $1.46 billion on a professional forma foundation, in keeping with the preliminary prospectus.
Kenvue trades underneath the inventory ticker “KVUE.”
Source: www.cnbc.com”