Herbalife 4Q profits, sales rise, but full-year results hurt by currency

Herbalife 4Q profit, sales rise

LOS ANGELES — Herbalife Ltd., a nutritional supplement company that relies on network marketing, said Tuesday its fourth-quarter net income rose 65 percent as sales soared.

The company earned $55.7 million, or 88 cents, a share. That’s up from earnings of $33.7 million, or 53 cents a share, in the same period last year.

Sales rose 23 percent to $630.9 million from $512.9 million.

Excluding one-time items, such as the effects of Venezuela’s currency devaluation, the company earned $61.7 million, or 98 cents a share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 91 cents per share on revenue of $596.5 million. Analysts typically exclude one-time items from estimates.

During the quarter, the company opened in Vietnam and Paraguay. Sales volume rose in all markets — including North America and Asia Pacific — except for China.

Earnings for the fiscal year were down though, as revenue fell largely due to foreign currency exchange. A strong U.S. dollar weighs on international sales once they are converted back to U.S. dollars.

For the fiscal year, the company earned $203.3 million, or $3.22 a share, down from $221.2 million, or $3.36 million the previous year. Revenue fell 1.5 percent to $2.32 billion, from $2.36 billion.

The company plans to take a one-time charge related to highly inflationary accounting for Venezuela.

Herbalife said it expects to earn between 77 cents and 80 cents per share in the first quarter, which ends in March. It expects sales to grow by between 12.5 percent to 13.5 percent over the same period in the prior year. Analysts predict first quarter earnings of 86 cents per share.

For the full year, the company expects to earn between $3.58 to $3.70 per share, with net sales up between 8.5 percent and 9.5 percent. Analysts expect earnings per share of $3.70 on revenue of $2.56 billion for the full year.

Shares fell $1.18, or 3 percent, to close at $38.25 on Tuesday.