Blyth Inc. reports Q4 – 2013 earnings:
In the Health & Wellness segment, ViSalus's fourth quarter net sales were$62.9 million versus $126.6 million for the same period last year, a decline of 50%, largely reflecting the reduced promoter base in North America.
At the end of the fourth quarter, qualified independent North American promoters totaled approximately 35,000 versus 76,000 promoters at the end of the prior year's fourth quarter. International promoters totaled nearly 2,500 at the end of 2013, reflecting the entry into the U.K. in April.
Health & Wellness fourth quarter segment operating loss was $7.7 million this year versus operating profit of $8.7 million last year.
Excluding allocated corporate expenses of $2.4 million both this year and last year, and the EIP charge of $2.2 million last year, fourth quarter operating loss for ViSalus was $5.3 million this year versus $13.3 million operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2012.
The decrease in ViSalus's operating profit was due primarily to the sales reduction and costs associated with its global expansion initiatives.
Ryan Blair, Chief Executive Officer of ViSalus noted that,
"In North America, our core market, we have launched additional products, programs and incentives to retain and motivate customers and promoters.In addition, we have identified several million dollars of savings to right-size the business and free up capital for investment in international expansion and new product development.By the end of 2014, we will have invested over $13 million to open six new markets, including the UK, which we entered in 2013, and Germany and Austria, which we launched during the first quarter."