Home and Garden Drive Sales at Spectrum Brands

Spectracide, Cutter, Repel, Hot Shot, Black Flag and Liquid Fence are leading names at Spectrum Brands. The company’s products are sold by the world's top 25 retailers and are available in more than one million stores in approximately 160 countries. It recently posted favorable fiscal 2015 second quarter results for the period ended March 29, 2015.
 
For the second quarter, net sales rose 4.4% to $1.07 billion. Net sales maintained flat at $2.13 billion in the first six months of fiscal 2015.
 
The Home and Garden segment reported a record second quarter. Net sales jumped 8.2% to $123.9 million. The improvement in the lawn and garden controls, repellents and household controls categories was attributable to retail distribution gains and strong POS that drove replenishment orders.
 
In other news, during the second quarter of fiscal 2015, Spectrum Brands announced the election of Andreas Rouvé as chief executive officer, effective April 1. The Company also completed the acquisitions of the IAMS and Eukanuba European pet food business and Salix Animal Health.
 
 “We reported another solid quarter, keeping us on track to deliver record performance in fiscal 2015,” said Rouvé. “Our Home and Garden business delivered a record second quarter, and we saw strong volume growth in our HHI business, in Europe and Latin America. These results were achieved despite significant negative impacts from foreign exchange and West Coast port delays.
 
“Similar to the first quarter, our sales grew in the low to mid-single digit range on a constant currency basis and after adjusting for acquisitions and an unfavorable impact from the port delays. Our gross margin held steady in the face of these challenges, and we are pleased that both reported and organic adjusted EBITDA increased in the quarter.
 
“We are executing well on our core sales growth strategies,” he said. “They include leveraging our international footprint to enter more countries, expanding and serving more channels, and using our strong retailer relationships to launch more categories. We benefit from a broad country and product portfolio mix and international sales organization. Our Spectrum Value Model continues to be an effective global go-to-market strategy.
 
“At the same time, we are accelerating the pace of innovation across our businesses. New products are being launched globally at a faster rate, enabling us in many cases to introduce higher price points and margins. In addition, cost improvement savings were meaningful in the quarter, and we are pricing where we can to mitigate foreign currency and inflation impacts. Our restructuring initiatives also help to offset foreign currency headwinds.

Spectrum Brands reiterated expectations for fiscal 2015 net sales, as reported, to increase in the low to mid-single digit range.