GREENWICH, Conn., Dec. 6, 2006 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Blyth, Inc. (NYSE:BTH), a leading designer and marketer of home fragrance and home decor products, today commented on its outlook for fiscal year 2007 and expectations for fiscal year 2008. For fiscal year 2007, Earnings Per Share are expected to be a loss in the range of $2.50 to $2.60. This estimate includes the effect of a goodwill impairment charge of $0.65 per share recorded in the second quarter, an estimated $2.80 per share loss on the sale and discontinued operations of Blyth's European Wholesale businesses and restructuring charges in the North American Wholesale mass channel home fragrance business of approximately $0.30 to $0.35 per share. Excluding the effect of the aforementioned items, fiscal year 2007 Earnings Per Share are expected to range from $1.20 to $1.25. Cash flow from operations of approximately $80 million for the full fiscal year is anticipated. Capital spending of approximately $20 million is also expected for fiscal year 2007.
For Fiscal year 2008, management expects Earnings Per Share of $1.20 to $1.30. This estimate reflects anticipated restructuring charges of approximately $0.10 - $0.15 per share related to the North American Wholesale mass channel home fragrance business. Therefore, based on continuing operations excluding the anticipated restructuring and impairment charges, earnings per share are expected to be $1.35 to $1.40, or a 12% increase versus management's fiscal year 2007 comparable projection of $1.20 to $1.25.
Robert B. Goergen, Blyth's Chairman of the Board and CEO, commented, "Numerous initiatives are underway throughout Blyth during fiscal year 2007 that we believe will position us to resume top and bottom line growth next year. Like most of our competitors, the globalization of the Home Expressions market has required adjustments to our cost structure. Our management team has made significant efforts to meet those challenges, resulting in the turnarounds underway in several of our businesses."
In lieu of quarterly teleconferences, management will conduct informal Question and Answer sessions periodically via dial-in calls, the next of which will take place on December 7th. The date, time and dial-in information will be available in the "Investor Relations" section of the Company's website, www.blyth.com, no later than one week prior to the next scheduled session. Management will not present prepared remarks during such calls and will cover no material, non-public information.
Blyth, Inc., headquartered in Greenwich, CT, USA, is a Home Expressions company competing primarily in the home fragrance, home decor, seasonal decorations and gift industry. The Company designs, markets and distributes an extensive array of candles, home fragrance products, decorative accessories, seasonal decorations and household convenience items, as well as tabletop lighting and chafing fuel for the Away From Home or foodservice trade. Blyth manufactures most of its candles and sources nearly all of its other products. Its products are sold direct to the consumer under the PartyLite(r) and Two Sisters Gourmet(tm) brands, to retailers in the premium and specialty retail channels under the Colonial Candle(tm), Carolina(r), CBK(r) and Seasons of Cannon Falls(r) brands, to retailers in the mass retail channel under the Florasense(r), Ambria(r), FilterMate(r) and Sterno(r) brands, to consumers in the catalog and Internet channel under the Miles Kimball(r), Exposures(r), Walter Drake(r), The Home Marketplace(r), Easy Comforts(tm) and Boca Java(tm) brands, and to the Foodservice industry under the Sterno(r), Ambria(r) and HandyFuel(r) brands. In Europe, Blyth's products are also sold under the PartyLite(r) brand.
Blyth, Inc. may be found on the Internet at www.blyth.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. Actual results could differ materially due to various factors, including the slowing of the United States or European economies or retail environments, the risk that we will be unable to maintain our historic growth rate, our ability to respond appropriately to changes in product demand, the risk that we will be unable to integrate the businesses that we acquire into our existing operations, the risks (including foreign currency fluctuations, economic and political instability, transportation delays, difficulty in maintaining quality control, trade and foreign tax laws and others) associated with international sales and foreign sourced products, risks associated with our ability to recruit new independent sales consultants, our dependence on key corporate management personnel, risks associated with the sourcing of raw materials for our products, competition in terms of price and new product introductions, risks associated with our information technology systems (including, susceptibility to outages due to fire, floods, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, break-ins and similar events), risks associated with legislation proposed by the Federal Trade Commission and other factors described in this press release and in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2006.