By David Clucas
Insulated bottle and drinkware brand Hydro Flask continues to shine for its new parent company Helen of Troy (Nasdaq: HELE).
The brand, sold at many outdoor and active lifestyle retailers, contributed $34.4 million, up 7.8 percent, for the company’s fiscal third quarter, ended November 30. That growth limited an overall quarterly decline at Helen of Troy — down 0.2 percent to $444.4 million — as it saw weakness from its other home, beauty and nutritional supplement segments, which include the Oxo, Pert, Revlon, Honeywell, Bruan, Vicks brands and more.
Still, net income for the quarter was up 13 percent to $57.6 million, or $2.07 per diluted share, versus $46.8 million, or $1.63 per share a year ago.
“We were pleased to achieve this improvement in profitability, despite lower consolidated net revenue,” said Helen of Troy CEO Julien Mininberg. “Key drivers for the quarter were the continued strength of our Hydro Flask acquisition, our efforts to sweeten our core business mix, and further operational efficiency gains from our shared services platform.”
Mininberg said Hydro Flask was performing “above expectations,” with the largest gains during the quarter coming from outdoor retail and online, including Amazon as its No. 1 customer. And while officials predicted higher growth to come, the company told investors that it was maintaining its initial forecast of between $85 million and $90 million for the full year.
“They do have somewhat of a seasonal business that peaks in the (fiscal) third quarter, and then declines some in the fourth quarter,” said Helen of Tory CFO Brian Grass. “So that’s the reason you can’t do a straight line trend and get to the $90 million we’ve guided to.”
The real significant bump for the Hydro Flask business is still ahead, he said. “And as such, we are investing in additional innovation to drive brand awareness and loyalty, further domestic distribution gains, and have begun exploring international expansion.” Officials added that Hydro Flask would continue to expand its food line to add additional avenues for the brand.
With the latest results, Helen of Troy reduced its full-year sales outlook to a range of $1.52 billion to $1.55 billion, versus the previous range of $1.55 billion to $1.59 billion. It did, however, raise its full-year profit expectations to a non-GAAP adjusted diluted EPS range of $6.20 to $6.50 from a range of $5.85 to $6.35.
Photo courtesy Hydro Flask
