Elizabeth Arden reports quarterly sales growth

Nicole Mezzasalma

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International sales and travel-retail offset “difficult holiday season” in the US in the three months to December 31

Beauty products company Elizabeth Arden has announced an increase of 2.8% in net sales to $422.4m in the quarter ended December 31 compared with the same period in 2006. Net income for the period was $33.8m. The company attributed the sales growth to “increased sales in international markets across all brand categories and the global launch of the M by Mariah Carey fragrance”.

For the six months ended December 31, net sales rose 4.3% to $694.2m from $665.6m for the same period in 2006.

Elizabeth Arden chairman, president and CEO E Scott Beattie said: “The strength of our international business and our focus on operating efficiencies enabled us to achieve our earnings and operating margin targets this quarter despite a difficult holiday season in North America. For the first half of the year, we had an overall decline in our net sales in North America of 2%, while we had expected growth of about 4.5%, or $20m. Net sales of our international business grew by 20% and by 14% in constant currency rates. The international growth was broad-based across geographical regions and our brand portfolio.

"For the remainder of this year, we expect softness in North America and continued strength in our international business,” Beattie added. “Our expectations for our international performance are based on the investments we have made to expand and improve profitability, particularly in Europe, Asia/Pacific and travel-retail."