UPDATE: Vitamin Shoppe Posts Lower Q2 Profit

Vitamin Shoppe

reported a 7.3% drop in its second-quarter profit and announced a $100 million share repurchase program. The North Bergen, New Jersey-based company posted a quarterly profit of $16.9 million, or $0.55 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $18.3 million, or $0.60 per share. Excluding certain items, it earned $0.62 per share in the quarter. Its sales increased 9.6% to $306.2 million from $279.5 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.63 per share on sales of $306.1 million. Income from operations fell to $28.2 million, versus $30.6 million in the year-ago period. Vitamin Shoppe's comparable retail stores sales climbed 4%, while total same-store sales surged 5.1%. Its e-commerce sales also increased 14.9%. Its selling, general and administrative expenses rose 12% to $74.7 million. Tony Truesdale, Chief Executive Officer of the Company said, "Our products and marketing efforts resonated with consumers and drove traffic to both our stores and website. I am pleased that new customer growth contributed to another quarter of double-digit e-commerce growth for the company.” Vitamin Shoppe shares gained 3.44% to close at $43.60 yesterday.