Helen of Troy Limited reported record net sales revenue and record net income for the second quarter and six months ended Aug. 31, 2011. The company recorded second quarter net sales revenue of $277,420,000, versus net sales revenue of $174,823,000 in the same period of the prior year, an increase of 58.7%.
Net sales revenue for the six months ended Aug. 31, 2011 was $548,887,000, versus net sales revenue of $334,976,000 in the same period of the prior year, an increase of 63.9%. However, net sales revenue for the company’s personal care segment decreased 3.2% to $115,296,000 in the second quarter of fiscal 2011 compared with $119,119,000 for the same period last year, meaning the company’s Q2 revenue growth was carried by the 14.6% sales revenue increase in the company’s housewares division. For the six months ending Aug. 31, 2011 though, the personal care segment saw increased sales revenue of 2.9%, marking $238,014,000 versus the prior year’s same period total of $231,347,000.
Gerald J. Rubin, Helen of Troy chairman, CEO and president, commenting on the company's results, stated, "We are extremely pleased with our record sales and record earnings for the second quarter and year to date in a difficult retail environment. Operating income increased by 9.7 and 21.1 percent for the three- and six-months ended Aug. 31, 2011. The integration of Kaz continues to progress well and according to our expectations. The impact of seasonality on our consolidated results has become more pronounced with the addition of our new health care/home environment segment. We expect that a significant portion of the new segment's operating income will be earned in the last two quarters of the fiscal year.
"Domestic and global economic indicators continue to signal a fragile and slow economic recovery. Despite the difficult macro environment, the company's core strengths remain strong. We continue to execute our business plan for fiscal year 2012. Our business plan includes investment in new product line development, sourcing and product cost management initiatives to partially offset commodity cost increases, implementation of numerous productivity initiatives to reduce operating expense, and continued pursuit of additional acquisitions of complementary businesses or product lines. We are confident that we are well-positioned to continue to be a leader in serving our retail partners and consumers," Rubin concluded.
