HLF Herbalife Ltd

Herbalife Ltd. on Thursday cut its profit projections for the current year because of currency issues and said the stronger U.S. dollar drove down sales revenue in the December quarter even as sales volume rose, driven by China.

The company now expects to make $4.05 to $4.50 a share in 2016, compared with its earlier view of $4.35 to $4.75 a share. Herbalife said its guidance includes a currency headwind of about 80 cents a share compared with 2015, with the forecast being an increase of 30 cents a share from the company's initial guidance last quarter.

Excluding currency, Herbalife sees per-share earnings between $4.85 and $5.30. It sees sales ranging from a 0.5% decline to a 2.5% increase.

Herbalife also sees "volume points" increasing 1.5% to 4.5% for the year. Volume points are point values Herbalife assigns to products to determine the sales achievement level of its members or sales representatives, according to regulatory filings.

Shares, down 15% in 2016, rose 2.2% to $46.59 in after-hours trading.

Founded in 1980, Herbalife, based in the Cayman Islands, sells protein shakes, snacks and other weight-management products along with other dietary and nutritional supplements.

Herbalife has been locked in a legal battle with billionaire investor William Ackman, who has accused the company of being a pyramid scheme. Herbalife has denied the accusations and, in turn, accused Mr. Ackman and his hedge fund of trying to manipulate Herbalife's stock.

For the fourth quarter, Herbalife reported a profit of $84.5 million, or 98 cents a share, compared with $103.3 million, or $1.21 a share, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, profit fell to $1.19 a share from $1.41 a year earlier.

Sales revenues were $1.1 billion for the quarter, a 3% decline from the year-ago period but up 9.7% when adjusted for currency fluctuations. World-wide sales volume rose 5% with China reporting a 30% increase.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected adjusted profit of 94 cents a share on $1.06 billion in revenue.

Gross margin improved to 81.4% from 80.6% a year earlier.

For the first quarter, Herbalife projected per-share profits between 97 cents and $1.07 on sales falling between 3% and 6%.

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 25, 2016 17:45 ET (22:45 GMT)

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jun 2024 bis Jul 2024

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jul 2023 bis Jul 2024