Photo courtesy of Sally Beauty Supply
Denton-based Sally Beauty Holdings reported a slight decline in profit and posted a sales gain in line with expectations.
The retailer and wholesaler of beauty and salon products said Thursday that it’s had steady sales improvement at its Sally Beauty Supply stores during its just completed fiscal year.
Fiscal fourth quarter same-store increased 2.1 percent at its retail chain after starting out in the first quarter with a 0.9 percent quarterly gain, said CEO Gary Winterhalter. He expects the trend to continue into 2015.
Earlier this year, the company increased its marketing for its Sally stores which compete with Ulta, drugs stores and discount chains. It also introduced new brands, such as CHI and Curl Genius appliances and OPI nail polish.
The company’s Beauty Systems Group, which sells Paul Mitchell, Wella, Sebastian, Goldwell and TIGI products to salons and professionals, posted a 3.6 percent increase.
Sally Beauty Holdings reported a fiscal fourth quarter profit of $61.8 million, or 39 cents a share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a profit of $64.8 million, or 38 cents a share, a year ago.
Total sales increased 4.2 percent to $944.3 million.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast a profit of 40 cents a share and a sales increase of 4.3 percent to $945 million. The company aggressively buys back its shares on the market which lifts its earnings per share. It repurchased $333 million, or 12.6 million shares of its stock during the quarter.
For the year, Sally Beauty Holdings posted a 5.8 percent decline in profit to $246 million, or $1.51 a share, from $261 million, or $1.48 a share, in 2013. Total 2014 sales increased 3.6 percent to $3.75 billion from $3.62 billion.
In the year ahead, the company said it expects a sales increase of about 3 percent.
The company operates 4,800 stores, including 200 franchised units, in the U.S., U.K., Belgium, Chile, Peru, France, the Netherlands, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Ireland, Spain and Germany.