Hain Celestial Sales Beat Estimates, Announces Strategic Reorganization

Hain Celestial Group Inc. said Wednesday it had third-quarter net income of $49.0 million, or 47 cents per share, up from $33.4 million, or 32 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings were 49 cents per share, meeting the FactSet consensus. Revenue for the quarter totaled $749.9 million, up from $662,7 million the year before. The FactSet consensus was $735 million. The organic food company has named James Meiers to the newly-created position of chief operations officer, responsible for finding cost savings across the company's global operations. Hain Celestial has already conducted a strategic review and identified $100 million in global cost savings, which it expects to achieve between fiscal years 2017 and 2019. The company will also establish five strategic platforms within Hain Celestial U.S. in fiscal 2017: Fresh Living, Better-for-You Baby, Better-for-You Snacking, Better-for-You Pantry and Pure Personal Care. A venture unit called Cultivate Ventures will invest in the company's smaller brands as well as products and technologies focused on health and wellness. And the company will sell certain brands with sales of $30 million that "no longer fit with its core strategy for future growth," Hain Celestial said in the earnings release. The company updated its full-year sales guidance to between $2.95 billion and $2.97 billion, from between $2.90 and $3.04 billion. And it updated its EPS guidance to between $2.00 and $2.04 from between $1.95 and $2.10. Hain Celestial shares are unchanged in premarket trading, but down 32.7% for the past year. The S&P 500 is down 2.4% for the last 12 months.