Boost in sales will outlive the pandemic as people spend more time at home, Newell Brands CEO Ravi Saligram says

Even with students returning to school and workers heading back to the office, changes in consumer spending will outlive the pandemic.

“The home has become the hub,” Newell Brands CEO Ravi Saligram told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Monday.

As companies become more flexible with employees working remotely in a post-pandemic world, Saligram expects its sales bump will last longer than this year.

“We think some of these trends are going to stay, plus we are innovating quite a bit,” he said. “With that we believe we are going to sustain growth going forward.”

The owner of brands including Papermate, Rubbermaid and Sharpie reported better-than-expected earnings on Friday and revenue that rose 21% from a year ago, to $2.29 billion.

“All eight businesses of ours performed well and grew. And seven out of eight actually grew double digits, across the world,” Saligram said.

Newell raised its forecast for this year, citing students to go back to school in person as one factor contributing to its upbeat outlook.

“We felt with our projections that we will do better than 2019 and a lot of that has to do with a continuation of consumer trends,” Saligram said. “A big part of [the positive outlook] is that we believe most students will be back in school. We’ll have a normal back-to-school season and that is a big factor for us.”

Newell estimates its adjusted earnings will be in the range of $1.63 to $1.73 per share this year. Revenue is expected to rise to between $9.9 billion and $10.1 billion.

Shares of Newell Brands rose nearly 2% on Monday. Its stock has gained nearly 29% this year, putting its value at more than $11.7 billion.