NEW YORK—Beauty-products maker Elizabeth Arden Inc. on Thursday said it swung to a fiscal third-quarter loss, as sales fell amid a difficult North American retail environment.
Loss for the three months ended March 31 totaled $3.8 million, or 14 cents per share, compared with a year-ago profit of $3.1 million or 11 cents per share. Excluding restructuring charges, net loss was 10 cents per share in the recent quarter.
Revenue fell 4 percent to $210.5 million, from $219.2 million last year. Excluding the benefit of a weaker dollar, net sales fell 5.9 percent. The company said results were hurt by weakness in the consumer and retail environment in North America and the U.K.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected profit of 7 cents per share on revenue of $223.3 million.
"While we were not expecting any improvement in the retail environment this past quarter in North America, we did not anticipate the extent of the negative retail sales trends," said Chief Executive E. Scott Beattie in a statement.
The company sees weakness in North America and developed markets in Europe for the rest of the year.
Elizabeth Arden also said it is accelerating a program to overhaul its supply chain functions and implement a transaction-processing system. The company also provided fiscal 2008 guidance below expectations.
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