Elizabeth Arden, Inc. announced preliminary financial results for its second fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, 2008. The company expects to report net sales in the range of $365 million to $370 million, which is a decrease of 12.5–13.5%, or 9–10% excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency, as compared to the prior year second quarter. Net income for the quarter, excluding expenses related to the Liz Claiborne license agreement and restructuring expenses, is expected to range between $0.57–0.61 per diluted share, or $0.72–0.76 per diluted share, excluding the estimated unfavorable impact of foreign currency of approximately $0.15 per diluted share.
"The consumer and retail environment worldwide was more challenging than we expected when we provided guidance in our first quarter earnings release the first week of November," said E. Scott Beattie, chairman, president and CEO, Elizabeth Arden, Inc. "The performance of our U.S. Elizabeth Arden prestige department store business was much weaker than we had anticipated, though consistent with overall trends experienced in this channel. Additionally, economic conditions in our higher margin travel retail and distributor markets worsened considerably in November and December, which negatively impacted our international results.
"Our North America fragrance business fared relatively better, but shipments also were below what we had expected when we provided our guidance. While retail sales were generally consistent with our outlook for the holiday season for North American mass retailers, replenishment orders for this channel were below our expectations. Results also were impacted by our actions to limit credit risk by decreasing shipments to certain customers due to credit constraints at those customers. Despite the weak environment, we maintained operating profit and improved margins for our North America fragrance business as a whole for the first half of this fiscal year as compared to the prior year."
Additional information is available from the company.
