Personal care proves Helen of Troy’s Achilles heel in an otherwise successful year
Consumer goods company Helen of Troy has announced a substantial increase in net earnings for the third quarter and the nine months ended 30 November 2009.
Consumer goods company Helen of Troy has announced a substantial increase in net earnings for the third quarter and the nine months ended 30 November 2009.
Third quarter net sales of $189.4m (up 2% on the third quarter of 2008) boosted Helen of Troy’s earnings to $24.7m, or $0.80 per fully diluted share, compared to $15.1m, or $0.48 per fully diluted share, in the same period of the previous year, an increase in earnings per fully diluted share of 66.7%.
For the nine months ended 30 November 2009, earnings per fully diluted share soared by 79%. However, this was largely due to increased net sales within the houseware segment (up 21.8% in the third quarter). Conversely, net sales for Helen of Troy’s personal care business were just $134.2m for the third quarter ended 30 November 2009, a decrease of 4.4%. Although the company noted that this was largely due to poor sales of hair appliances and accessories and that sales of its grooming, skin care and hair care category actually grew during the quarter.
