Helen of Troy Limited reported that second quarter sales were $153,543,000 versus sales of $157,924,000 in the same period of the prior year. Second quarter net earnings were $10,598,000 or $0.34 per fully diluted share, compared with $18,253,000 or $0.56 per fully diluted share for the same period a year earlier. Net sales for the personal care segment decreased 10.2% to $106,409,000 in the second quarter compared with $118,502,000 for the same period in 2007.
"The present retail environment continues to remain extremely challenging," said Gerald J. Rubin, chairman, CEO and president, Helen of Troy Limited. "Many of our retail customers continue to experience a slowing sales environment as we enter the critical fall and holiday sales season. We believe that consumer spending in the mass-market channel is greatly affected by macroeconomic factors. Despite these challenges, we are very pleased with our results in the second quarter. Our earnings before income taxes increased to $12,124,000 from $11,899,000 in a very difficult marketplace.
"We believe that our company's business fundamentals remain strong. We will continue to execute our business plan by introducing new product offerings, striving for increased market share through channel expansion and product innovation, and continuing our efforts to increase process efficiencies and reduce related expenses."