Elizabeth Arden Inc. Reports Operating Results (10-Q)

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Feb 10, 2009
Elizabeth Arden Inc. (RDEN, Financial) filed Quarterly Report for the period ended 2008-12-31.

Elizabeth Arden is a leading global marketer and manufacturer of prestige beauty products. The Company's portfolio of leading brands includes the fragrance brands Red Door Elizabeth Arden green tea 5th Avenue White Shoulders Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds and Passion Geoffrey Beene's Grey Flannel Halston Halston Z-14 PS Fine Cologne for Men Design and Wings by Giorgio Beverly Hills; the Elizabeth Arden skin care brands Visible Difference Ceramides and Millenium; and the Elizabeth Arden cosmetics line. Elizabeth Arden Inc. has a market cap of $168 million; its shares were traded at around $7.32 with a P/E ratio of 4.2 and P/S ratio of 0.15.

Highlight of Business Operations:

During the six months ended December 31, 2008, we incurred transition expenses relating to the Liz Claiborne license agreement of $4.4 million. We do not expect to incur significant additional transition expenses related to the Liz Claiborne license agreement. In addition, our gross margins for the first half of fiscal 2009 were impacted by expenses relating to Liz Claiborne inventory that we purchased at a higher cost prior to the effective date of the license agreement. During the six months ended December 31, 2008, we recognized a charge related to this inventory of approximately $18.9 million, before taxes, which did not require the use of cash. This charge is in line with the estimate of $19.0 million disclosed in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2008.

As a result of the acceleration of the re-engineering of our extended supply chain functions and the implementation of the Oracle financial accounting and order processing system, we continue to implement a restructuring plan that will result in restructuring and one-time expenses, including severance, relocation, recruiting and temporary staffing expenditures. We expect these expenses to be incurred primarily in fiscal years 2009 and 2010 and currently estimate that they will total $12.0 million to $14.0 million before taxes, of which $1.9 million has been incurred to date and $0.3 million was incurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2008.

Segment profit excludes depreciation and amortization, interest expense and unallocated corporate expenses, which are shown in the table below reconciling segment profit to consolidated net income before income taxes. Included in unallocated corporate expenses are (i) adjustments to eliminate intercompany mark-up, (ii) employee incentive costs, (iii) restructuring charges, and (iv) costs related to our Global Efficiency Re-engineering initiative. Unallocated corporate expenses for the three and six months ended December 31, 2008, also include $4.2 million and $23.3 million, respectively, of expenses related to the recent Liz Claiborne license agreement ($3.5 million and $18.9 million, respectively, of which did not require the use of cash in the current period), due to Liz Claiborne inventory that was purchased at a higher cost prior to the June 2008 effective date of the license agreement and transition expenses. We do not have intersegment sales.

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