Blyth Swings To Profit, Lifts FY12 Views; Shares Up

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8/3/2012 1:47 PM ET

Blyth Inc. (BTH: Quote) Friday reported a swing to profit in the second quarter from a loss last year, as sales surged 70 percent driven by strong performance at its subsidiary ViSalus that sells weight management products, nutritional supplements and energy drinks.

Looking forward, the candle maker lifted its earnings guidance for the full year 2012, based on the significant year-over-year sales growth at ViSalus. Blyth shares are currently up eight percent following the news.

ViSalus sales for the quarter surged to $190.4 million from $40.6 million last year. ViSalus is a network marketing company that sells weight management products, nutritional supplements and energy drinks through a network of independent sales distributors.

Chief Executive Robert Goergen said, "ViSalus continued its dramatic growth in the second quarter during the seasonally-important springtime for our weight management business as consumers get ready for outdoor/summer season."

Sales from direct selling segment, which includes ViSalus and PartyLite, increased 98 percent to $278.3 million. PartyLite sales slipped 13 percent to $86.8 million.

Blyth's sales for the quarter grew to $324.8 million from $191.5 million last year.

Greenwich, Connecticut-based Blyth's second-quarter profit was $8.0 million or $0.46 per share, compared to a loss of $5.2 million or $0.31 per share last year.

On an adjusted basis, earnings rose to $0.72 per share from $0.07 per share last year. Earnings per share reflect the company's two-for-one stock split effective June 15, 2012.

Looking forward, Blyth now expects normalized earnings of $3.00 to $3.15 per share, compared to prior estimate of $2.75 to $2.88 per share.

The company now sees earnings of $2.47 to $2.62 per share, compared to prior guidance of $2.45 to $2.58 per share.

The upside revision of earnings forecast was due mainly to strong growth at ViSalus.

BTH is currently trading at $36.15, up $2.68 or 8.01%, on a volume of 0.5 million shares.

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by RTT Staff Writer

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