Newell Rubbermaid Beats Street on 2Q Earnings

Newell Rubbermaid (NYSE:NWL), maker of consumer products ranging from Sharpie pens to Lenox collectibles, reported a hike in second-quarter earnings Friday, driven primarily by strong sales growth across its business segments and high demand in Latin America.

The Atlanta company reported net income of $130.4 million, or 41 cents a share, compared to $105.7 million, or 37 cents a share, from the same quarter last year.

Excluding special items, the consumer and commercial products company reported earnings of 51 cents a share, ahead of average analyst estimates of 44 cents, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.

The company posted revenue of $1.5 billion, down 0.5% compared to the earlier-year quarter, and falling narrowly behind the Street’s view of $1.52 billion.

Newell CEO Mark Ketchum said he was “very pleased” with the company’s performance, partly attributing gains to improvements in gross margin, driven by productivity gains and improved product mix.

“We delivered strong second quarter results across almost all metrics,” he said. “This growth was the result of a combination of market share gains and distribution wins as well as strong consumer demand in Latin American and developing markets in EMEA.”