GREENWICH, Conn., April 3, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blyth, Inc. (NYSE:BTH), a leading designer and marketer of home fragrance and home decor products, today commented on its outlook for fiscal year 2010. Earnings Per Share are expected to be in the range of $3.00 to $3.30 for fiscal year 2010. Earlier today the Company reported fiscal year 2009 Earnings Per Share of $3.28 before unusual items.
Robert B. Goergen, Blyth's Chairman of the Board and CEO, commented, "While setting targets has become increasingly challenging in the current macroeconomic environment, we do expect profit improvement in several of our business units for fiscal year 2010 as a result of various restructuring projects initiated last year. Management has planned prudently and is focused on maintaining market share while improving working capital management and protecting cash flow."
Mr. Goergen continued, "In addition to the aforementioned factors, a substantial portion of our consolidated earnings is from countries other than the United States. The relationship of global currencies to the U.S. dollar can have a significant impact on our reported earnings -- up or down.
"Turning to our PartyLite Direct Selling business, we are continuing to invest in mature markets such as the U.S. to ensure early success of new independent sales Consultants and a continued strong earnings opportunity for more experienced Consultants. We are also planning for further European geographic expansion in fiscal year 2010 and believe that portions of Eastern Europe offer excellent opportunity for PartyLite."
Cash flow from operations in excess of $50 million for the full fiscal year is anticipated. Capital spending of approximately $6 million is also expected for fiscal year 2010.
The Company implemented a 1-for-4 reverse stock split of its common stock at the end of January 2009. References to earnings per share have been retroactively adjusted and give effect to the reverse stock split.
In lieu of quarterly teleconferences, management conducts informal Question and Answer sessions periodically via dial-in calls, the next of which will take place on Friday, April 3rd at 2:00 pm Eastern time. 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 and one-on-one 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), Two Sisters Gourmet(r) and ViSalus Sciences(r) brands, to retailers in the premium and specialty retail channels under the Colonial Candle(r), CBK(r) and Seasons of Cannon Falls(r) brands, to retailers in the mass retail channel under the Sterno(r) brand, to consumers in the catalog and Internet channel under the As We Change(r), Miles Kimball(r), Exposures(r), Walter Drake(r), The Home Marketplace(r), Easy Comforts(r) and Boca Java(r) brands, 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 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.