Sales & Earnings In Brief
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Physicians Formula: Retailer destocking - to the point where retailers were ordering half of the number of pieces they did during the prior year - contributed to sales plunge in firm's first quarter of fiscal 2009, according to May 11 announcement. One of firm's largest retail customers announced in April it will no longer continue to sell Physicians Formula; retailer accounted for 16% of firm's gross sales in 2008. "We are obviously very disappointed with the decision made by this retail partner despite our strong performance and a long-term and very successful relationship. We are already taking actions to mitigate the impact of this decision including, but not limited to, reducing workforce levels, implementing cost controls, reducing capital expenditures, as well as re-evaluating various non-strategic marketing and administrative costs," Chairwoman and CEO Ingrid Jackel says. Sales were $20.2 mil. for the first quarter, compared with $42.7 mil. in the prior year. Firm is slowing its promotional activity to reduce costs. On the brighter side Mineral Wear makeup is gaining share in the masstige channel, and Physicians Formula bronzer and new eye makeup products have become best-sellers at retail, firm says
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Physicians Formula: Retailer destocking - to the point where retailers were ordering half of the number of pieces they did during the prior year - contributed to sales plunge in firm's first quarter of fiscal 2009, according to May 11 announcement. One of firm's largest retail customers announced in April it will no longer continue to sell Physicians Formula; retailer accounted for 16% of firm's gross sales in 2008. "We are obviously very disappointed with the decision made by this retail partner despite our strong performance and a long-term and very successful relationship. We are already taking actions to mitigate the impact of this decision including, but not limited to, reducing workforce levels, implementing cost controls, reducing capital expenditures, as well as re-evaluating various non-strategic marketing and administrative costs," Chairwoman and CEO Ingrid Jackel says. Sales were $20.2 mil. for the first quarter, compared with $42.7 mil. in the prior year. Firm is slowing its promotional activity to reduce costs. On the brighter side Mineral Wear makeup is gaining share in the masstige channel, and Physicians Formula bronzer and new eye makeup products have become best-sellers at retail, firm says. Inter Parfums: Launch of Burberry The Beat in the prior-year quarter plus soft consumer spending and unfavorable foreign exchange drove sales down 27% to $90.4 mil. in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, according to Inter Parfums' May 11 release. Firm's European operations booked $82 mil. in revenue, dwarfing U.S. sales of $8.4 mil. Net income declined 35% to $7.3 mil. Firm down-adjusted advertising and promotional spending in the quarter while rolling out men's version of Burberry The Beat, Lanvin L'Homme Sport , and in the U.S. a new Gap scent called Close . This year Inter Parfums plans to launch new scents from Paul Smith , Quicksilver and Van Cleef & Arpels . Unilever: New advertising for Dove bar soap and recently launched products such as Degree Clinical Protection deodorants paid off in firm's fiscal 2009 first quarter, with personal-care sales increasing 4% to roughly $3.8 bil., firm says May 7. Axe hair-care items and Vaseline for Men cited as strong performers in categories where consumers generally were "paring back," Unilever says. During the quarter firm also launched "hair minimizing" Dove deodorant in Europe and Latin America. Overall Q1 sales totaled $12.89 bil., slightly down from the prior year, including a negative currency effect of 2%, company notes. Underlying sales growth was 4.8%. Firm completed acquisition of TIGI professional hair care in April; acquisition fattens Unilever's portfolio of premium brands in the U.S. and Europe (1 (Also see "Unilever Catapulted Into Professional Hair Care With TIGI Acquisition" - HBW Insight, 2 Feb, 2009.), p. 9). |