USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: USNA) today announced record financial results for its fiscal second quarter ended July 3, 2010.
“Although our results in North America were down slightly over last year, we are pleased to see consecutive quarter improvements in this region in both sales and active Associates”
Financial Performance
Net sales in the second quarter of 2010 improved 12.4% to $126.0 million, compared with $112.1 million in the second quarter of the prior year. This increase was due to an overall increase in product sales, driven primarily by a 5% increase in the number of active Associates, which is the result of continued growth in the Asia Pacific region. Additionally, favorable changes in currency exchange rates accounted for $5.2 million of the increase in net sales for the second quarter of 2010.
Net earnings in the second quarter of 2010 increased 22.5% to $10.8 million, or $0.69 per share, compared with $8.8 million, or $0.57 per share, in the second quarter of the prior year. This year-over-year increase resulted from higher net sales and improved gross profit margins. These improvements, however, were partially offset by higher Associate incentives expenses and higher selling, general and administrative expenses.
For the six months ended July 3, 2010, net sales increased by 17.1% to $245.1 million, compared with $209.4 million for the first six months of the prior year. This growth in sales was due to an overall increase in product sales, driven again by a higher average number of active Associates. Additionally, favorable changes in currency exchange rates accounted for $13.9 million of the increase in net sales for the first six months of 2010. Net earnings for the first six months of 2010 increased by 32.2% to $20.4 million, or $1.31 per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $15.4 million, or $1.00 per diluted share, for the first six months of the prior year. This increase in net earnings during the period resulted from higher net sales, improved gross profit margins, and lower relative selling, general and administrative expenses, which were partially offset by higher Associate incentives expenses.
Regional Results
During the second quarter of 2010, net sales in the North America region decreased by 1.0% to $62.1 million, compared with the second quarter of the prior year. Net sales in North America benefited by $2.4 million from changes in currency exchange rates in Canada and Mexico. Active Associates in the North America region decreased by 10.4% compared with the second quarter of the prior year. Importantly, on a sequential quarter basis, active Associates increased by 1.1% and sales increased by 2.6% in this region.
Net sales in the Asia Pacific region for the second quarter of 2010 increased by 29.5% to $63.9 million, compared with the second quarter of the prior year. This improvement was mainly due to an overall increase in product sales, driven by 22.3% growth in the number of active Associates. This increase in the number of active Associates was primarily the result of double-digit growth in Hong Kong.
"Although our results in North America were down slightly over last year, we are pleased to see consecutive quarter improvements in this region in both sales and active Associates," said Dave Wentz, chief executive officer. "The success of our Asia Pacific region continues to drive our top-line growth. This success was highlighted this quarter by our Asia Pacific convention held in May in Hong Kong, which was our largest ever Associate-attended event. At this event, we introduced several new region-specific products that contributed to record convention sales of $2.8 million. Highlighting this convention was the announcement of our intention to open business in China. We believe that now is the right time for USANA to make the necessary investments for entry into this large and growing market."
Outlook
Jeff Yates, chief financial officer, said, "I am pleased with our strong second quarter operating results which were better than we expected, particularly the 160 basis-point improvement we made to our operating margin. While the Asia Pacific convention in May added about $1.6 million in SG&A spending, this was more than offset by the significant improvement to our gross margin. In light of our strong second quarter operating results, we are raising our financial guidance for 2010. We now project consolidated net sales to be between $488 million and $495 million and earnings per share to be between $2.73 and $2.80."