Personal Care Element Still Key at Edgewell

Edgewell Personal Care Company (EPC) posted results for its first fiscal quarter, which ended Dec. 31, 2015. Net sales fell 7.9% to $495 million.  Organic net sales grew 0.5%, driven by growth in Wet Shave and Sun and Skin Care.  Wet Shave sales were primarily driven by growth in North America, while Sun and Skin Care increases were led by strong performance in Asia Pacific. 
 
Wet Shave organic net sales increased 1.1% to $3.7 million. Underlying growth was driven by women's systems, disposables and shave preps in North America and men's and women's systems in Asia. 
 
Sun and Skin Care organic net sales rose 4.4% to $2.4 million, driven by strong Sun Care sales in international markets, particularly Oceania and emerging markets in Asia.  Globally, Sun Care growth was strong across both the Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic brands. Skin Care sales declined in North America, due primarily to increased competition. 
 
The company's outlook for fiscal 2016 remains unchanged, with relatively flat organic net sales of $440-$460 million.
 
“We made progress on our top-line performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2016.  Organic net sales grew 50 basis points, driven by a return to growth in North America,” said David Hatfield, Edgewell's president and chief executive officer.  “Solid underlying growth enabled us to overcome the impact of ongoing international go-to-market changes, and we continued to make progress on our key initiatives for 2016.  This positive start to the year reinforces our view that we are taking the right steps to position Edgewell for future growth and value creation.”