Hasbro CEO Reiterates Fiscal Year Revenue, EPS Growth View
20 Aprile 2009 - 3:55PM
Dow Jones News
Hasbro Inc. (HAS) President and Chief Executive Brian Goldner
reiterated the toy maker's expectation it can increase full-year
revenue and per-share earnings.
"We don't feel that there's anything that's happened thus far
that would change" Hasbro's March view for growth in both revenue
and earnings, Goldner said during a conference call.
Chief Financial Officer David Hargreaves said the effect of
foreign-currency exchange is "pretty much where we expected it to
be." Furthermore, the company said in its earnings release it
believes the two most recent quarters will prove to have been the
most challenging for Hasbro in this economic cycle.
Executives on the call indicated they suspect the worst is
behind Hasbro in terms of the retailers' efforts to lower
inventories, a major concern in the first quarter. Hargreaves said
the impact of de-stocking efforts "was very severe during January
and February; it was tough to get orders." But shipments in the
U.S. were higher in March.
"I think in the U.S. we're probably through the worst of it," he
said. "I'm not sure that we are in some of the international
markets," like Australia, he said.
Earlier Monday, Hasbro said first-quarter profit fell 47% to
$19.7 million, or 14 cents a share, from $37.5 million, or 25
cents, a year ago. Revenue fell to $621.3 million from $704.2
million.
Analysts, on average, expected the maker of GI Joe action
figures and Nerf toys to earn 14 cents a share on revenue of $643
million, according to FactSet Research.
-By Mary Ellen Lloyd, Dow Jones Newswires, 704-948-9145;
maryellen.lloyd@dowjones.com