EL PASO, Texas–Second-quarter net income for Helen of Troy totaled $10.6 million, a decline of 42 percent from the third quarter of last year.
The company’s net income from last year’s second quarter included a favorable tax settlement of $7.6 million; leaving out this addition to the bottom line, second-quarter net income this year actually increased by about 3 percent.
Net sales in the second quarter slipped 2.8 percent to $153.5 million as Helen of Troy, like other manufacturers, struggled with what Gerald Rubin, chairman, president and chief executive officer, called the “extremely challenging” retail economy.
“Many of our retail customers continue to experience a slowing sales environment as we enter the critical fall and holiday sales season,” Rubin said in a company statement. He went on to cite high gasoline prices, tightening credit markets and the subprime credit crisis.
On a segment basis, Helen of Troy’s personal-care unit suffered a 10.2 percent drop in net sales in the second quarter, to $106.4 million. Its housewares sector’s net sales rose 19.6 percent to $47.1 million.
