Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. announced record fourth-quarter results with revenue of $588.2 million, a 19% improvement over the prior-year period. Revenue was not materially impacted by foreign currency fluctuations, and earnings per share for the quarter were $0.97, a 27% year-over-year improvement. Additionally, the company announced that it is increasing its full-year 2013 revenue guidance by $50 million to $2.3 to $2.35 billion.
The company reported full year 2012 revenue of $2.17 billion, a 24% year-over-year improvement. Annual revenue was negatively impacted 1% by foreign currency fluctuations, and earnings per share for the year were $3.52, a 48% increase over 2011, or 31% when excluding charges related to a Japan customs case in the prior year.
“We are pleased with our solid fourth-quarter results and believe 2013 will be another record year as we launch a new wave of compelling anti-aging products and project strong performances around the world,” said Truman Hunt, president and CEO, Nu Skin. “Our growth in the fourth quarter was driven by particularly strong trends in several key markets including Japan, South Korea and mainland China, where we continue to see tremendous results from our latest ageLOC products. We expect the upcoming launch of our ageLOC weight-management system to drive significant growth in the back-half of the year.”
Fourth-quarter revenue in North Asia was $250.2 million, compared to $204.3 million for the same period in 2011. The region’s results were negatively impacted approximately 1% by foreign currency fluctuations, but Japan local-currency revenue improved 26% while South Korea experienced local-currency revenue growth of 19%. The number of sales leaders in the region was up 14% while the number of actives improved 3%.
In greater China, fourth-quarter revenue increased 28% to $141.7 million, compared to $110.6 million in the prior-year period. Foreign currency fluctuations had a positive impact of 3% in the region, and the sales leader count in the region improved 57%, while the number of actives increased 51% compared to the prior-year.
Revenue in South Asia/Pacific was $63.5 million, a 3% decline compared to the prior year. Sales in the quarter were positively impacted 4% by foreign currency fluctuations, and the region’s fourth-quarter sales leaders declined 11% while actives decreased 1% compared to the same period in 2011.
Revenue in the Americas improved 4% to $80.1 million, compared to $76.9 million in the prior-year period. Sales in the U.S. increased 18% when excluding $12.5 million of convention sales to non-U.S. distributors in the fourth quarter of 2011. The number of sales leaders improved 19% while the number of actives decreased 1% compared to the prior year.
Revenue in Europe was $52.8 million, a 38% improvement over the prior-year period. Results in the region were negatively impacted 6% by foreign currency fluctuations. Sales leaders and actives in Europe increased 21% and 9%, respectively, compared to the prior year.
“We expect 2013 will be another record year with healthy trends in all of our regions and a record launch of our new ageLOC weight management system, which we plan to introduce through a global limited time offer in the fall,” said Hunt. “We also recently announced plans to increase our 2013 dividends by 505, which represents a 140% increase in dividends over the past three years. With our strong performance and increasing cash flow, we have the financial flexibility to further increase our dividends, repurchase additional shares and continue to invest in important business initiatives to sustain growth.”
Read more about Nu Skin’s Q4 and full year 2012 financial results here.