Dow Jones Newswires | Crystal Lake-based AptarGroup Inc.’s first-quarter earnings climbed by nearly half on strength in its core beauty-and-home segment, as the product-dispenser maker projected stronger earnings in the current quarter than analysts expected.
It sees earnings of 60 cents to 65 cents a share, above the average estimate of 56 cents a share from a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters.
The strong results accelerate the company’s turnaround in the previous
quarter. Inventory reductions appeared to trough in the second half of
last year, after AptarGroup’s sales suffered from low traffic in malls
and weak discretionary spending on items such as perfume and make-up.
AptarGroup rebounded to low double-digit percentage earnings growth in
the previous quarter and announced a realignment to simplify its
customer-facing business structure, building on production streamlining
it made during the demand slump.
Chief Executive Peter Pfeiffer said he expected the demand strengthening
to continue, saying the recovering economy combined with the absence of
the inventory destocking the company experienced in the first half of
2009 would drive growth in the current quarter.
AptarGroup posted a profit of $39 million, or 56 cents a share, from
$26.7 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier. In February, the
company forecast earnings of 48 cents to 53 cents a share, above market
expectations at the time.
Revenue increased 17% to $505.5 million, beating analysts’ estimate for
$484 million.
Excluding foreign-exchange effects, revenue rose 11%.
Gross margin widened to 34.5% from 32.9%.
Its biggest segment — beauty and home — posted a 24% jump in sales, as its
income more than doubled. Its smaller closures segment had 15% revenue
growth and a jump in income by more nearly half. Its third segment,
pharma, was stable.
AptarGroup shares were up 0.3% at $46.41 after hours. The stock has
risen nearly a third in the last year.
