Elizabeth Arden Stock Plummets 16% As Loss Widens

(RTTNews) - Elizabeth Arden Inc. (RDEN) Monday reported a third-quarter loss that widened from a year ago, hurt by a 20 percent plunge in revenues due mainly to weak domestic and international performance. Shares of the beauty products retailer plumped 16 percent in extended trading hours.

New York-based Elizabeth Arden's third-quarter loss widened to $26.4 million or $0.89 per share from $1.3 million or $0.04 per share last year.

Adjusted loss for the quarter was $0.84 per share compared to last year's loss of $0.02 per share. On average, eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report breakeven per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Elizabeth Arden, the US-based cosmetic and fragrance retailer, said sales decreased 20 percent to $210.8 million from $264.5 million last year. Analysts expected revenues of $256.86 million for the quarter.

North America sales slumped 23 percent to $121.9 million, as the company launched fewer fragrance during the period. International sales decreased 16 percent to $89 million.

Commenting on the results, CEO Scott Beattie said, "We have been hampered this year by weak performance in our North American mass fragrance business and a global environment that has been highly promotional. We also did not have the same level of significant fragrance innovation as we did last year. This coincided with an unprecedented number of weather-related store closures in our North America business during the quarter."

RDEN closed Monday's trading at $35.63, up $0.66 or 1.89%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, dropped $5.83 or 16.36%, in the after-hours trade.