Global Repositioning Successful at Arden

Elizabeth Arden, Inc. posted financial results for its second fiscal quarter and six months ended Dec. 31, 2011. Net sales climbed 6% to $429.9 million. For the company’s international business, net sales increased 9.4%. Sales growth was highest in the European and travel retail and distributor markets. Net sales in North America grew 4.4%, driven by strong growth in the company’s prestige business, where net sales increased 20%.

For the six months ended Dec. 31, 2011, the company reported that net sales rose 6.2% to $733.5 million.

“We continued to expand sales of the Elizabeth Arden brand and our fragrance portfolio,” said Scott Beattie, CEO. “Global sales of Elizabeth Arden branded products grew 12% fiscal year-to-date with sales of the skin care and color cosmetic portfolio increasing by 20% and 16%, respectively.”

According to Beattie, global repositioning of the Elizabeth Arden brand will impact almost every aspect
of the brand and its products.

“We are in the process of presenting our plans to key accounts globally, and based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback received so far, have begun to accelerate the roll-out of the new Elizabeth Arden brand,” he said.

In addition, the Taylor Swift fragrance Wonderstruck performed exceedingly well, achieving the No. 2 ranking among women’s fragrance launches in US department stores for the important holiday season, and contributed to the strong performance of Arden’s North American prestige department store business.

“While the global economic environment remains uncertain, we are confident that we can continue to increase the sales of our brand portfolio and improve margins to drive strong cash flow and earnings growth,” he said.

The company is confirming its fiscal 2012 guidance for net sales growth of 5-6% over the prior year.