Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. reported the first quarter of fiscal 2016 ended Jan. 3, 2016. Net sales rose 14.1% to $1.22 billion.
 
“Our solid first quarter performance is an excellent start to achieving a seventh consecutive year of record performance in fiscal 2016,” said Andreas Rouvé, chief executive officer of Spectrum Brands Holdings.
 
“Highlights included record Home and Garden and HHI results, and strong performances from our global battery and legacy Pet businesses, and, regionally, in the US as well as in Europe and Latin America on a currency neutral basis in the face of expected and significant foreign currency headwinds,” Rouvé said. “We are especially pleased with the improved performances of our North American battery and legacy Pet businesses which were challenged in fiscal 2015.
 
“New product introductions also contributed as we work to step up our vitality rate in fiscal 2016 and beyond and selectively invest more behind some of our key brands,” Rouvé said. “The integration of Global Auto Care continues on a fast and smooth timetable with expected synergies being realized. Looking to the rest of the year, we continue to expect healthy top and bottom-line growth from a mix of new products, new customers, distribution and market share gains, increased cross-selling, geographic expansion and continuous improvement savings along with expense controls,” he said.
 
“As in recent years, the second half of our fiscal year should again be larger than the first half, given the seasonal nature of some of our businesses. We are managing the business for long-term, sustainable organic growth and therefore are selectively increasing our spending on growth initiatives,” Rouvé said. “We are making good progress in implementing our Spectrum First organic growth accelerators.”