Benzinga | Jul 8, 2021 10:37AM EDT

Helen Of Troy Shares Fall After Q1 Earnings Beat, Weak FY22 Outlook

* Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) reported first-quarter FY22 sales of $541.2 million, a 28.6% year-on-year growth, beating the consensus of $438.90 million.

* Beauty and Housewares led to the increase in sales as the easing of COVID-19 restrictions drove store traffic. Organic business sales grew 27.3% Y/Y.

* The company recorded a $13.1 million charge related to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) packaging compliance costs on concerns that packaging claims on certain products in its U.S. water and air filtration and a limited subset of humidifier products are not in compliance to EPA's standards.

* The adjusted operating margin for the quarter was 17.5%, with an adjusted operating income of $95 million.

* Adjusted EPS of $3.48 beat the consensus of $2.62, with a 37.5% increase Y/Y.

* HELE lost $63.4 million in operational cash flow, and ended the quarter with cash and equivalents of $37.4 million.

* Outlook: HELE expects FY22 Core net sales of $1.9 billion to $1.95 billion, versus consensus of $2.02 billion.

* It sees FY22 adjusted EPS of $10.25 to $10.75 against the consensus of $11.83. GAAP EPS is estimated at $6.80 to $7.49.

* The company expects to incur additional EPA compliance costs, which may include costs to relabel or repackage existing inventory as well as incremental freight and storage costs, among other things.

* Price action: HELE shares traded lower by 9.12% at $211.16 on Wednesday.