GREENWICH, Conn., Sept. 4, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blyth, Inc. (NYSE:BTH), a leading designer and marketer of home fragrance and home decor products, today commented on its updated outlook for fiscal year 2009. Normalized Earnings Per Share are expected to be in the range of $1.35 to $1.40 for fiscal year 2009 versus prior guidance of $1.45 to $1.50.
Commenting on the Company's full year projections, Robert B. Goergen, Blyth's Chairman of the Board and CEO, said, "Our updated guidance for fiscal year 2009 reflects a challenging macroeconomic environment and the battle for consumer discretionary dollars in light of the impact of inflation on American households and businesses. Rigorous cost management and appropriately aggressive promotional investments are key tactical initiatives for the second half of the year. Concurrently, focused new product development and supply chain initiatives are underway for fiscal year 2010 to ensure that we are positioned to capitalize on a longer-term improvement in consumer confidence."
Reported Earnings Per Share are anticipated to be $1.16 - $1.21 per share versus prior guidance of $1.26 - $1.31 per share. Blyth's current and prior fiscal year 2009 reported Earnings Per Share estimates reflect a charge of $5.2 million (pre-tax and after tax), or $0.14 per share, related to the write off of the Company's investment in RedEnvelope, as well as anticipated unusual charges of approximately $0.05 per share related to the North American Wholesale home fragrance business, which is being realigned following the divestiture of Blyth's mass channel candle business in fiscal 2008.
Cash flow from operations of approximately $80 million for the full fiscal year is anticipated versus prior guidance of $90 million. Capital spending of approximately $10 million is also expected for fiscal year 2009.
In lieu of quarterly teleconferences, management will conduct informal Question and Answer sessions periodically via dial-in calls, the next of which will take place on September 5th. The date, time and dial-in information will be available in the "Investor Relations" section of the Company's website, www.blyth.com, no later than one week prior to the next scheduled session. Management will not present prepared remarks during such calls and will cover no material, non-public information.
Blyth, Inc., headquartered in Greenwich, CT, USA, is a Home Expressions company that markets an extensive array of home fragrance products, decorative accessories, seasonal decorations and household convenience items. The Company sells its products through multiple channels of distribution, including the home party plan method of direct selling, as well as through the wholesale and catalog/Internet channels. Blyth also markets tabletop lighting and chafing fuel for the Away From Home or foodservice trade. The Company manufactures most of its candles and chafing fuel and sources nearly all of its other products. Its products are sold direct to the consumer under the PartyLite(r) and Two Sisters Gourmet(tm) brands, to consumers in the catalog and Internet channel under the Miles Kimball(r), Exposures(r), Walter Drake(r), The Home Marketplace(r), Easy Comforts(tm) and Boca Java(tm) brands, to retailers in the premium and specialty retail channels under the Colonial Candle(tm), CBK(r) and Seasons of Cannon Falls(r) brands, to retailers in the mass retail channel under the Sterno(r) brand, and to the Foodservice industry under the Sterno(r), Ambria(r) and HandyFuel(r) brands. In Europe, Blyth's products are also sold under the PartyLite(r) brand.
Blyth, Inc. may be found on the Internet at www.blyth.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. Actual results could differ materially due to various factors, including the slowing of the United States or European economies or retail environments, the risk that we will be unable to maintain our historic growth rate, our ability to respond appropriately to changes in product demand, the risk that we will be unable to integrate the businesses that we acquire into our existing operations, the risks (including foreign currency fluctuations, economic and political instability, transportation delays, difficulty in maintaining quality control, trade and foreign tax laws and others) associated with international sales and foreign sourced products, risks associated with our ability to recruit new independent sales consultants, our dependence on key corporate management personnel, risks associated with the sourcing of raw materials for our products, competition in terms of price and new product introductions, risks associated with our information technology systems (including, susceptibility to outages due to fire, floods, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, break-ins and similar events) and risks associated with other factors described in this press release and in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2008.