Strong Beauty Brand Growth Boosts Energizer Fiscal Report

Energizer Holdings, Inc., owner of the Hawaiian Tropic, Banana Boat, Schick, Edge and Skintimate beauty brands, announced results for its first quarter ending December 31, 2011. Its net earnings for the quarter were $143.8 million, as compared to net earnings of $110.4 million in the first fiscal quarter of 2011.

Net sales for the company’s first quarter of 2012 were $1,198.1 million, a 1.8% increase over 2011. This was due to the inclusion of American Safety Razor (ASR). The first fiscal quarter of 2012 includes a full quarter of ASR net sales as compared to only one month in the first fiscal quarter of 2011 due to the timing of the acquisition.  On an organic basis, net sales decreased 2.2% as sales growth in the company’s personal care division was more than offset by a decline in household products.

"As we emerge from our year of investment, we see continued momentum behind Schick Hydro following the recent global launch," said Ward Klein, the company’s CEO.  "We plan to continue leveraging this innovative technology with two new product roll outs in the second quarter:  Schick Hydro Silk for women and Schick Hydro 5 Power Select for men.  As we look to the remainder of fiscal 2012, we plan to balance investing in our businesses with delivering earnings growth to our shareholders. Due to increased volatility in currencies and economic uncertainty in Europe, our business environment has become more challenging. Therefore, we have tightened our guidance range for fiscal 2012 to $6–6.20, which represents a reduction in the high-end of our previous guidance.”

Specifically in its personal care division, Energizer Holdings recorded first quarter net sales of $564.4 million, an increase of 11% over the first quarter in 2011. Again, this is due primarily to the inclusion of ASR for a full quarter versus one month in the prior year first quarter. Organic sales growth was 1.4% for the quarter as compared to the same period in the prior year. A driver of the reported and organic sales growth for the quarter were net sales in Wet Shave, which increased 15.2%, including the impact of ASR and favorable currencies. Organic sales for Wet Shave grew 2.2% due to higher shipments of disposables offset by anticipated lower sales of legacy men's products. Schick Hydro sales were flat in the quarter with organic growth offsetting significant pipeline fill in last year's first quarter related to launches in key European markets. Also, net sales in skin care increased 8% due to higher sales in international markets.

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