The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. reported record results for its third quarter ended March 31, 2014. The company reported net sales of $557.4 million, a 22 percent increase, compared to net sales of $456.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal year 2013. Hain Celestial U.S. reported record third quarter net sales of $319.5 million, a 15 percent increase. In the U.K., net sales were $176.9 million, and the rest of world segment reported net sales of $61.0 million. The company had strong brand contribution across various sales channels led by Imagine®, The Greek Gods®, Spectrum®, Earth's Best®, Garden of Eatin'®, Sensible Portions®, Bearitos®, Terra®, Cully & Sully®, Hartley's®, Gale's®, Sun-Pat®, Frank Cooper's®, Robertson's®, Linda McCartney®, Lima®, Danival®, Natumi® and Alba Botanica®. The growth in net sales also resulted from sales of the Ella's Kitchen® brand acquired in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013 and the Tilda® brand acquired in the third quarter of fiscal year 2014.
For the third quarter, the company earned adjusted net income from continuing operations of $44.5 million compared to $34.4 million in the prior year third quarter, a 29 percent increase and reported adjusted earnings per diluted share from continuing operations of $0.88 compared to $0.72, a 22 percent increase. Net income was $35.2 million compared to $40.7 million in the prior year third quarter when the company reported a tax benefit of $13.2 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, resulting from a worthless stock tax deduction for an investment in one of the company's U.K. subsidiaries. Full report.
