Clorox quarterly profit dips

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Clorox Co <CLX.N> posted a dip in quarterly profit on Tuesday, pressured by higher costs for materials like the resin used to make some products and packaging.

The bleach maker is hopeful that new products such as goods like Brita water bottles, price increases and the appetite of affluent shoppers can help it rebound after a disappointing first half of the fiscal year.

The maker of Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing earned $151 million, or $1.09 per share, in the fiscal third quarter that ended in March, compared with a profit of $165 million, or $1.16 a share, a year earlier.

Earnings from continuing operations were $141 million, or $1.02 a share, compared with $143 million, or $1.00 a share, a year earlier.

Sales rose 1.3 percent to $1.30 billion, while analysts had expected $1.32 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Brad Dorfman and Jessica Wohl, editing by Dave Zimmerman)