Home decor designer Blyth, Inc. of Greenwich has put forth a sigh-themed revision of its 2009 outlook.
“Our updated guidance for fiscal year 2009 reflects lower sales and profits than originally anticipated throughout our U.S. businesses due in part to the difficult macroeconomic environment and expectations of a soft holiday sales season,” said Robert B. Goergen, chairman of the board and CEO of Blyth.
The company”™s normalized earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $1.00 to $1.05 for fiscal 2009 as opposed to prior guidance of $1.35 to $1.40.
“We are aggressively managing our business for cash, restructuring where appropriate and planning conservatively for fiscal year 2010,” said Goergen.
Blyth’s current reported earnings per share estimate includes a third quarter noncash pretax goodwill impairment charge of $45.9 million, equating to $39.3 million after tax, arising from a revaluation of goodwill associated with Blyth”™s catalog and Internet businesses.
Blyth”™s current and prior fiscal year 2009 reported earnings per share estimates reflect a charge of $5.2 million related to the first quarter write off of the company’s investment in RedEnvelope as well as other anticipated charges of approximately $2.7 million.
Cash flow from Blyth operations is approximated at $50 million for the full fiscal year 2009 with capital spending of $8 million.
