Jarden Corp. affirmed its earnings outlook for the first quarter saying synergies from its K2 acquisition were kicking in sooner than expected. The company said its Outdoor Solutions unit was the only business to grow organically during the quarter.


Jarden said preliminary analysis indicates net sales rose 47% to $1.2 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 over the same period in the prior year.

“While we continue to see significant macro economic challenges, we believe our performance in this environment reflects the strength of our leading brands and the defensible nature of our core categories,” said Martin E. Franklin, chairman and CEO, said. “As budgeted, our Outdoor Solutions segment showed organic growth during the quarter while our other business segments showed a year-over-year decline. We are pleased to report that the anticipated synergies from the integration of K2 are being realized ahead of schedule and these savings helped drive our bottom line performance. While our first quarter results will not be final until we fully announce earnings next month, we remain comfortable that we will meet or exceed the analysts' consensus estimates for continuing EPS for first quarter 2008.”


Jarden is scheduled to release detailed results and hold a quarerly conference call May 8, 2008.


“Our performance in the first quarter strengthens our belief that our diversified portfolio of authentic products positions Jarden well to perform better than the overall categories we serve, in tough as well as good economies,” Franklin.

Jarden had intended to present at an investor conference later today, however, due to a scheduling conflict, management was unable to attend.


Through its Outdoor Solutions unit,  Jarden owns the Abu Garcia, Berkley, Campingaz and Coleman, Fenwick, Gulp, JT, K2, Marker, Marmot, Mitchell, Penn, Rawlings, Shakespeare, Stearns, Stren, Trilene and Volkl brands.