Hain Celestial Reiterates FY16 Guidance

(RTTNews) - The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (HAIN), a leading organic and natural products company, announced it continues to expect fiscal 2016: total net sales range of $2.97 billion to $3.11 billion, and earnings range of $2.11 to $2.26 per share.

For the first-quarter of fiscal 2016, the company reported net sales of $687.2 million, a 9% increase over the prior year period or, on a constant currency basis, an 11% increase over prior year adjusted net sales of $642.6 million. The United States segment reported first quarter net sales of $331 million.

First quarter earnings per share was $0.30, a 67% increase; adjusted earnings per share was $0.37, a 9% increase. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $0.37 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Irwin Simon, CEO of Hain Celestial, said: "Our United States segment growth did not fully meet our expectations, as strong performance from our snacks, yogurt, tea, and personal care brands was overshadowed by temporary disruptions from some of our distributor and retail customers as well as a decline in grocery brands associated with deceleration in the natural channel. We continued to benefit from the diversification of our business across our branded organic and natural product categories, sales channels and geographies, which fueled solid worldwide results in our typically lowest sales and profitability quarter."