Helen of Troy CEO "pleased with record sales"

Will Atkinson | Jul 08, 2008 4:26pm EDT | Comment

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Helen of Troy Limited (Nasdaq:HELE) CEO Gerald Rubin said the economic environment remains challenging for the personal-care products maker but that the El Paso, Texas-based firm is poised to effectively react to market changes. Rubin made the comments during a midday conference call.

“We are ready to take advantage of improvements in the retail environment,” Rubin said.

The company reported Tuesday morning that its first-quarter profit fell 45% to $5.6 million, or $0.18 per share, from $10.1 million, or $0.32 per share, a year earlier. Wall Street expected the firm to earn $0.30 per share.

Quarterly sales rose to $145 million from $140.2 million a year ago. Wall Street analysts, on average, projected $142.8 million.

“We are very pleased with our record sales for the first quarter,” Rubin said.

Strong sales in the house wares segment, which grew 15% compared with a year earlier, and international revenue, which jumped 9.1%, were a catalyst for sales growth.

“In the first quarter, we experienced year-over-year sales growth despite the difficult domestic retail environment where many of our retail partners face slowing same-store sales trends,” CFO Thomas Benson said.

Sales, general and administrative expenses totaled $45.6 million during the first quarter, down from $45.7 million a year earlier. Helen of Troy’s quarterly cost of sales rose to $82 million, up 2% from $80.2 million during the prior-year period.

Rubin said the company is not providing guidance at this time. The chief executive said Helen of Troy will “probably” file its regulatory paperwork with the SEC on Wednesday.