NEW YORK — Alberto-Culver Co. reported Thursday a jump in second-quarter earnings on a 7.1 percent increase in net sales.
In the three months ended March 31, the maker of Alberto VO5, St. Ives and TRESemmé personal care products earned $56.9 million, or 61 cents a diluted share, up 15.8 percent from $49.1 million, or 53 cents, the previous year. Results in the most recent quarter included stock options expenses of $3.1 million and a $3.6 million expense related to the failed $2.6 billion merger of the company’s Sally Holdings Inc. into Regis Corp. The deal was called off in early April after Alberto-Culver’s board of directors said it could no longer support the transaction; Regis subsequently terminated the deal.
Carving out expenses, earnings in the second quarter would have been $59.9 million, or 64 cents, Alberto-Culver said, which would compare with $51.4 million, or 55 cents, in the prior-year period. Analysts had been expecting earnings per share of 60 cents in the latest quarter.
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