Helen Of Troy Q1 Profit Misses View; Slashes Annual Guidance

(RTTNews) - Helen of Troy Limited (HELE), a consumer products company, Tuesday reported lower profit for the first quarter primarily due to decline in sales. Earnings as well as revenue missed analysts' view. The company also cut its full-year outlook.

Profit was $6.20 million or $0.26 per share for the first quarter, significantly lower than $22.58 million or $0.94 per share in the same quarter a year ago. Besides decreased sales, income tax expenses of $12.12 million this year, up from $4.15 million last year also impacted the bottom line.

Excluding one-time items, earnings were $23.3 million or $0.99 per share, that missed the average estimate of analysts of $1.59 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Operating income decreased to $30.8 million from $40.6 million last year.

Revenue for the quarter declined 12.2 percent to $416.85 million from $474.67 million in the previous year. The consensus estimate was for $445.85 million.

For the full year, the company currently expects sales revenue to be in the range of $1.885 billion - $1.935 billion, a decline of 6 percent-3.5 percent, compared to the previous outlook for a drop of 2 percent to growth of 1 percent.

EPS outlook for the year has been lowered to $4.69-$5.45 from $6.68-$7.45, and adjusted EPS to the range of $7.00 to $7.50, from $8.70 to $9.20, guided earlier.

Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $8.93 per share on revenue of $1.99 billion for the year.