Parlux sales up despite troubled prestige fragrance industry in US
The sales for the quarter ending 31 December 2009 were estimated to be $48.5m, a 3 percent increase when compared to the sales of $47.3m recorded for the same period in 2008.
Nine month figures were also up on the results of the previous year, estimated to be at $128.6m compared to $123m for the corresponding 2008 period.
Parlux chairman and CEO, Neil Katz said in a statement that although the prestige fragrance industry in the US continued to struggle, the international and mass market channels showed positive trends in the difficult economic climate.
“Although our sales increase was not as high as expected, I am pleased that our sales grew versus last year, and were much stronger than the trends in the fragrance category,” he added.
Sale of Guess license completed
Following the announcement last year that fragrance company Coty was to take over the license for the Guess brand held by Parlux since 2003, this transaction was completed during the third quarter.
The reported growth figure of 3 percent excluded the Guess brand. Factoring this into the figures would bring the increase in net sales to 10 percent, to $52m, the company said.
Parlux continues to negotiate the sale of the unfinished inventory to Coty, according to the company, and also made efforts during the third quarter to reduce the stock levels of other brands that have licenses due to expire in the near future.
Positive outlook for 2010
“Despite the expiration of the Guess license, we remain optimistic that our new brands and product launches in the upcoming year will provide a platform for growth and positive results,” said Katz.
Last year, new products were launched under the Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson names, and products with three new licenses, Queen Latifah, Marc Ecko and Natori, were also introduced to the market.
Parlux anticipates the release of its earnings for the three and nine months ended 31 December to take place during the second week of February 2010.
