Coty Profit Falls on P&G Merger Costs
05 February 2016 - 12:50AM
Dow Jones News
Coty Inc. on Thursday said its profit tumbled 29% in the most
recent quarter as the beauty-products maker recorded costs tied to
its merger with Procter & Gamble Co.'s beauty brands.
Interim Chief Executive Bart Becht said revenue trends were
muted in its second quarter and the company expects those trends to
continue for the remainder of the fiscal year.
On Thursday, Coty confirmed it had transferred 10 P&G
fragrance licenses, including Hugo Boss, Gucci and Lacoste as part
of its deal with P&G.
Coty also said it is on track to close the merger in the second
half of 2016 and that it has received antitrust approval from the
U.S., among other countries, and is actively engaged in discussions
with European Union authorities.
"We have also materially advanced on structuring and staffing
our future organization and are in the middle of plans to integrate
the businesses from a supply and systems point of view," Mr. Becht
said.
Also Thursday, Coty said its board authorized a $500 million
share-repurchase program as it had exhausted its $700 million
buyback plan, buying 24.9 million shares.
For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Coty reported a profit of $89
million, or 25 cents a share, down from $125.4 million, or 35 cents
a share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings fell to 38 cents a share
from 45 cents a year before. The latest quarter included $45.5
million in acquisition-related costs, compared with $1.6 million in
the year-earlier quarter.
Revenue fell 3.9% to $1.21 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 34
cents a share on $1.21 billion in revenue. Gross margin rose to
61.4% from 59.6%.
The New York company announced in September that it would buy
P&G's beauty brands for $13 billion, adding items such as
Clairol hair dyes and CoverGirl makeup to its portfolio.
Then, in November, Coty said it would buy beauty and
personal-care business Hypermarcas, the latest in a string of
acquisitions that include nail-polish company OPI Products,
skin-care-products brand Philosophy and digital marketing platform
Beamly. The company said the deal—which was reported closed on
Monday—provides a platform to integrate Coty's beauty business in
Brazil with P&G's brands in that country.
Shares, which have fallen 18% over the past three months, were
inactive premarket.
Write to Anne Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 04, 2016 08:35 ET (13:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Hypera (PK) (USOTC:HYPMY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jan 2025 to Feb 2025
Hypera (PK) (USOTC:HYPMY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Feb 2025