Reliv reports net sales of $21.7 million for first quarter 2011

Reliv International, Inc. (NASDAQ: RELV), a maker of nutritional supplements that promote optimal health, today reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2011.

Net sales for the quarter were $21.7 million, a 4.6 percent decrease from the first quarter last year. At $18.5 million, net U.S. sales were off 5.0 percent from the same quarter in 2010. Though net sales outside of the U.S. decreased 1.8 percent, Reliv's European sales grew significantly, rising 72.4 percent compared to the first quarter of 2010.

Net income for the quarter was $609,800, down 18.3 percent from net income for the first quarter of 2010. Earnings per diluted share were $0.05 compared to $0.06 per diluted share for last year's first quarter.

"Our average order size, which dropped less than 1 percent compared to last year's first quarter, seems to be stabilizing. That is a key metric for Reliv and a positive sign," said Robert L. Montgomery, chairman, president and chief executive officer.

"Another positive sign is the doubling of the number of 2011 International Conference registrations compared to registrations at this time last year," Montgomery added. "We believe the introduction of Reliv 24K has helped drive that increase and is a factor in stabilizing average order size."

"Strengthening sales in Reliv Europe is also worth highlighting," he said. Reliv Europe has reported sales growth of more than 40 percent in each of the last four quarters. "We're seeing a group of European distributors climbing to the highest ranks of our system and establishing solid momentum there," Montgomery said.

New distributor enrollments declined for the first quarter compared to the first quarter last year. The decline in enrollments was a contributing factor to Reliv's sales decrease for the quarter.

To encourage enrollment efforts, Reliv is offering further incentives and promotional activities for distributors. The Team Reliv program, for example, sponsors running events that highlight Reliv products, builds brand awareness and offers leads to prospects.

While distributors sponsor Team Reliv running events throughout the U.S. and International markets, the company just completed the major corporate Team Reliv sponsorship, the Reliv 5K Run/Walk during St. Louis' major marathon, Go St. Louis. The company built brand recognition by providing Reliv medals to all participants and handed out samples of Innergize, Reliv 24K and Relivables healthy snack bars.

In addition, Reliv continues to focus on its social media presence and online brand awareness in an effort to increase enrollments and broaden the demographic base of its distributors, which the company believes will help fuel sales growth.

"While we still have a lot of work ahead of us, we believe we are closer to re-gaining sales growth than at any time in the last few years," Montgomery said.

Additional financial results

• Income from operations for the first quarter totaled $1.1 million, down 6.2 percent from the 2010 first quarter.
• Net cash generated from operating activities totaled $2.3 million, an increase from $1.8 million in the first quarter of 2010.
• Reliv had cash and cash equivalents of $8.2 million as of March 31, 2011, an increase of $1.1 million over the same date in 2010.
• New distributor enrollments declined 13.0 percent compared to enrollments in the first quarter of 2010. Reliv's total distributor count was 59,870 as of March 31, 2011, down from 66,030 on March 31, 2010.