Nu Skin Q4 Earnings Surge, Beat Estimates; Hikes Quarterly Dividend

(RTTNews) - Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NUS), a maker of personal care products and dietary supplements, Monday reported a rise in earnings for the fourth quarter, supported by higher sales in China. Earnings also topped analysts' estimates.

Further, the company declared a 15 percent increase in its quarterly cash dividend to $0.345 per share, payable on March 26, to shareholders of record on March 14.

Net earnings more than doubled to $125.27 million or $2.02 per share, from $59.23 million or $0.97 per share in corresponding period last year.

On average, seven analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters estimated the company's earnings to be $1.99 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Revenue increased to $1.056 billion from $579.19 million in fourth quarter of 2012. Analysts had expected revenues of $1.07 billion. In Greater China, revenue increased to $481.6 million from $138.3 million in the same period last year.

For the full-year, earnings rose to $364.89 million or $5.94 per share, from $221.64 million or $3.52 per share last year. Annual revenues surged to $3.177 billion from $2.132 million in 2012.

For the first quarter of 2014, the company slashed its revenue outlook to $650 million to $670 million. The company also said it now expects earnings of $0.90 to $0.94 per share.

Analysts expect earnings of $1.20 per share on revenues of $732.19 million in the first quarter of 2014.