Helen of Troy Ltd. reported sales rose 3.4 percent in its first quarter. The gains were led by 16.3 percent gain its its Housewares segment, including growth in both Hydro Flask and OXO.

Executive Summary

  • Consolidated net sales revenue increase of 3.4 percent driven by a core business increase of 2.2 percent and growth from acquisitions of 1.8 percent, partially offset by a decline of 0.6 percent from foreign currency fluctuations
  • Consolidated gross profit margin decrease of 0.3 percentage points
  • Consolidated SG&A as a percentage of sales improvement of 0.7 percentage points
  • Pre-tax non-cash asset impairment charges of $36.0 million, compared to $7.4 million in the same period last year
  • GAAP operating loss of $3.2 million, or (0.9) percent of net sales, compared to operating income of $22.9 million, or 6.6 percent of net sales in the same period last year
  • Non-GAAP adjusted operating income of $42.6 million, or 11.9 percent of net sales, compared to $44.6 million, or 12.8 percent of net sales in the same period last year
  • Cash flow from operations of $41.7 million
  • GAAP diluted EPS of $0.22 compared to $0.68 in the same period last year
  • Non-GAAP adjusted diluted EPS of $1.37 compared to $1.27 in the same period last year

Julien R. Mininberg, chief executive officer, stated: “We are pleased to report a solid start to our current fiscal year. Strong focus on our strategic choices delivered net sales revenue growth of 3.4 percent and adjusted diluted EPS growth of 7.9 percent. Core business net sales for our leadership brands increased over 8 percent in the quarter, driven by incremental growth investments, successful new product introductions, online channel growth of over 30 percent, incremental distribution, and growth in international sales. The quarter was led by our Housewares segment, which increased sales by 16.3 percent, including growth in both Hydro Flask and OXO. Health & Home grew core business net sales by 3.4 percent and improved its profitability. In Beauty, core business net sales declined 1.4 percent, which was better than our expectations, as product innovation contributed to market share growth in the U.S. retail appliance category. In Nutritional Supplements, while quarterly revenue was down 12 percent due primarily to the transition to new systems, we believe we are now past the majority of the system transition challenges and are encouraged by the progress we are seeing from our omni-channel strategy. We are seeing consistent improvement in many underlying leading indicators since February such as a growing active buyer file, rising reactivation purchases and climbing average daily sales.”

Mininberg continued: “We are pleased with our profit progress for the quarter and believe we remain on track to achieve our full year outlook. Our top line growth drove operating leverage which, combined with tax benefits, more than offset a slight decline in gross profit margin. Our business continues to generate solid adjusted diluted EPS growth, even as we have made incremental investments in product development, marketing and brand building to support growth in the longer-term.”

Photo courtesy Hydro Flask