Lifetime Brands results hit by West Coast dock troubles, weakness in Europe
Lifetime Brands, a provider of branded kitchenware, including KitchenAid, posted consolidated net sales of $117.7 million for the first quarter, ended March 31, compared from $118.4 million in the corresponding period in 2014.
Garden City-based Lifetime Brands Inc. Thursday reported lower first-quarter net sales and a decline in net income, driven by the effects of the West Coast dockworkers slowdown earlier this year and a decline in export sales of kitchenware products due to the weakness of the European economy.
The global provider of branded kitchenware, tableware and other products, including Farberware and KitchenAid, posted consolidated net sales of $117.7 million for the first quarter, ended March 31, compared from $118.4 million in the corresponding period in 2014.
Excluding the effect of foreign currency swings, sales would have been $120.4 million, an increase of $2 million, or 1.7 percent, over the prior-year period.
Net sales for the U.S. wholesale segment for the quarter were $86.5 million, an increase of 0.9 percent. Outside the United States, wholesale net sales decreased by $2.7 million, to $25.4 million.
Net sales in the first quarter were affected by the West Coast dockworkers' slowdown, which prevented some shipments from reaching the company's distribution center in Fontana, California, by shifts in the timing of certain warehouse club promotions and by translation losses resulting from a weaker British pound against the U.S. dollar, Lifetime chairman and chief executive Jeffrey Siegel said in a statement.
Lifetime Brands' net income for the first quarter dropped to $2.1 million, from $2.9 million in the corresponding period in 2014. Its adjusted net income was $1.9 million, or 14 cents per diluted share, compared with $1.7 million, or 13 cents per diluted share, in the same period in 2014. Adjustments include acquisition-related expenses and financing expenses.
Due to an expected strong holiday selling season, the company reaffirmed its forecast that net sales are likely to increase 3 to 6 percent for 2015.
Shares of Lifetime Brands closed up 3 cents to $14.88 on the Nasdaq stock market. They are down 13.5 percent since the start of the year.
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