Blyth Posts Loss in Second Quarter

Blyth, Inc., a multi-channel designer and marketer of home fragrance products, home decor products and household convenience items, said its second quarter sales slid 16% to $199.4 million. At the same time, the Greenwich, CT-based company lost $15.6 million in the three months ended July 31. That compares with a profit of $3 million, a year ago.

The decline in sales reflects lower sales volume across all of Blyth’s business units as U.S. consumers continue to scale back spending. International sales represented 39% of total sales in the second quarter this year and last year.

“Although business conditions remained very challenging during the quarter as consumer spending in the U.S. and Canada continued to be impacted by the overall weak economic climate, we are pleased with our substantial improvements in working capital management and the resulting increase in cash flow during the first half of the year,” said Robert B. Goergen, Blyth’s chairman and CEO. “Nevertheless, even though our proactive approach to expense management continued to be a top priority, we were unable to sufficiently offset an expected decline in revenue and earnings resulting from the recessionary environment.”