Energizer Holdings, Inc. (ENR), a maker of batteries and portable lighting products, on Thursday reported a loss for the third quarter, hurt by restructuring charges and lower battery sales.
In early July, Energizer said it completed the spin off from its former parent company, newly named Edgewell Personal Care Company (EPC), and started to operate as an independent, publicly-traded entity.
St. Louis, Missouri-based company's net loss for the third quarter was $19.6 million or $0.32 per share, compared to net income of $36.3 million or $0.58 per share in the year-ago period.
The latest quarter's results include restructuring related charges of $19.4 million as well as spin-off and spin restructuring related charges of $76.2 million.
Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.64 per share, compared to $0.66 per share in the prior-year quarter. On average, eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.50 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Net sales for the quarter declined 9 percent to $374.3 million from $411.7 million in the same period last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $371.13 million.
The decline in sales includes a decrease of $27.7 million due to unfavorable movement in foreign currency rates, a $6.8 million change in Venezuela results and $3.2 million related to the initial impacts of the international go-to-market changes.
Excluding the impact of these unfavorable items, organic net sales edged up 0.1 percent, exceeding category value performance.
Sales of alkaline batteries in the quarter decreased 9 percent to $233.9 million, while sales of other batteries and lighting products declined 10 percent to $140.4 million.
Energizer's operations are managed via four major geographic reportable segments - North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa or EMEA, and Asia Pacific. The company reported lower sales in all the four geographic segments.
Gross margin percentage for the quarter increased 200 basis points, driven by continued cost reductions and modest commodity price favorability. This amount excludes the change in Venezuela results, international go-to-market changes and the unfavorable impact of currency.
Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Energizer expects total organic net sales to be down mid- to high-single digits. The company noted that its fourth fiscal quarter will be its first quarter with stand-alone financial data.
Alan Hoskins, CEO of Energizer said, "We are finalizing our plans for fiscal year 2016 and will share our outlook for the upcoming fiscal year in November. The fourth quarter will be transitional as the New Energizer begins to execute its plans as an independent company."
ENR is trading at $40.40, up $0.95 or 2.41 percent on a volume of 108,883 shares.
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