Helen Of Troy Profit Rises, Yet Misses Estimate; Stock Down - Update

(RTTNews) - Consumer products company Helen of Troy Ltd (HELE), Wednesday reported a higher first-quarter profit amid modest increase in sales. Nonetheless, both earnings and revenue for the quarter fell short of Wall Street estimates, dragging down the company's stock by about 6 percent in after-hours trade on the Nasdaq.

Helen makes brand-name housewares, healthcare/home environment and personal care consumer products.

The El Paso, Texas-based company posted first-quarter net earnings of $16.4 million or $0.55 per share, compared with $14.4 million or $0.45 per share last year.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $24.6 million or $0.83 per share, compared with $26.4 million or $0.82 per share in the prior year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.93 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Sales for the first quarter climbed to $311.8 million from $304.5 million a year ago, while analysts expected $314.55 million.

Growth was seen in Healthcare/Home Environment segment and Housewares segment, the company said.

Gross margin shrunk to 38.3 percent from 39.5 percent last year, due mainly to promotional costs and sales of lower margin products.

For fiscal year 2015, the company still expect adjusted earnings of $4.30 to $4.40 per share and sales of $1.325 to $1.375 billion. Analysts currently expect earnings of $4.38 per share on sales of $1.35 billion for the year.

In June, Helen of Troy closed the $195 million acquisition of Healthy Directions, a company in the premium doctor-branded vitamin, mineral and supplement market.

HELE closed Wednesday at $60.53, up $0.51 or 0.85%, on a volume of about 250k shares. In after hours, the stock dropped $3.71 or 6.14%.