Prestige Brands Beats Q4 Expectations

reported better-than-expected results for its fiscal fourth quarter on Thursday. The Tarrytown, New York-based company posted a quarterly profit of $23.8 million, or $0.45 per share, versus $16.0 million, or $0.30 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding items, the company's adjusted earnings rose to $0.47 per share from $0.35 per share. Its revenue climbed 32.9 percent year-over-year to $190 million. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.45 per share on revenue of $186.68 million. The average estimate among 3 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.45 per share and revenue of $187.28 million. Revenue for its North American OTC Healthcare segment rose 39.2 percent year-over-year to $156.2 million for the fourth quarter, while International OTC Healthcare segment revenue jumped 40.6 percent to $13.0 million. Household Cleaning segment revenue slipped to $20.8 million for the fourth quarter, from $21.6 million in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted free cash flow rose 45.0 percent to $50.1 million in the latest quarter. "Our excellent fourth quarter results reflect continued strengthening of consumption trends across our core OTC and international brands resulting in record adjusted free cash flow of over $50 million during the quarter. Fiscal year 2015 was Prestige Brands' greatest year to date," Matthew M. Mannelly, President and CEO said. "This strong momentum positions the Company well as we enter fiscal 2016." For the full year, Prestige Brands projects earnings of $2.05 to $2.10 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $2.07 per share. Prestige Brands shares rose 0.70 percent to close at $41.65 yesterday.