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By Mariam Sunny
(Reuters) -Kenvue on Thursday forecast that its annual profit would be flat year-over-year as the consumer health firm anticipates a $150 million impact from President Donald Trump's trade tariffs implemented on U.S. imports thus far.
Customers are bracing for price increases as consumer-facing companies try to navigate higher costs brought on by the tariffs.
Kenvue will work with retail partners on targeted pricing actions in a way that will "preserve the long-term health of our brands" and "minimize the impact for our consumers", CEO Thibaut Mongon said in a call with analysts.
The company expects its efforts to secure alternate sourcing, pricing actions and revenue growth to mitigate the tariff hit, mostly from China, but said it would not be able to absorb the full impact this year.
Shares of New Jersey-based Kenvue rose 6% in morning trading.
Kenvue, spun off from Johnson & Johnson in 2023, has been under pressure from activist investors to boost performance, particularly in its struggling skin-health and beauty unit, which includes brands such as Neutrogena and Aveeno.
The company has been spending more on social media campaigns and other marketing efforts to get its skin and beauty products across to more Gen Z consumers, a critical demographic where it has lagged.
Separately, Kenvue said on Thursday that its CFO, Paul Ruh, would be replaced by Kellanova's Amit Banati, effective May 12. Banati most recently served as the finance chief of Kellanova.
The company had previously forecast adjusted profit to range between flat to a 2% growth in 2025. It had earned $1.14 per share in the previous year.
First-quarter sales at its skin health unit fell 7.3% to $977 million, below analysts' estimate of $1.09 billion.
Kenvue earned a profit of 24 cents per share for the reported quarter, compared with an expectation of 23 cents per share.
Quarterly revenue of $3.74 billion topped an estimate of $3.68 billion.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Pooja Desai)