3 August 2018 - Deborah Wilkes
Prestige Brands Holdings is changing its name to Prestige Consumer Healthcare following the divestment of its Household Cleaning business.
Chief executive officer Ron Lombardi said the corporate name change was a "reflection of the strategic evolution the company has made over the past decade to grow and focus the portfolio on consumer healthcare products".
Prestige has made a series of OTC/consumer healthcare acquisitions in recent years, including the purchase of fellow US OTC company CB Fleet from private-equity firm Gryphon Investors in January 2017 for USD825 million in cash.
Lombardi said the new name "more accurately reflects our business model and long-term strategic plan to be the market leader in many areas of consumer healthcare".
The company, added Lombardi, was now "fully concentrating" its brand-building efforts around its leading consumer healthcare brands to support long-term organic growth.
Prestige announced in July 2018 that it was divesting its Household Cleaning business – which accounted for around 8% of the company's sales in the 12 months ended 31 March 2018 – for USD69.0 million in cash. The US-based company said the proceeds would be used to "further reduce debt" (click here to read the News story).
Financial results released
News of the name change came as Prestige reported sales of USD254 million in the three months ended 30 June 2018, which is the first quarter of its 2019 financial year.
Noting sales were down by 1.0% compared to the same period a year earlier, Prestige said strong consumption levels across the company's core brands had been offset by a previously announced change in accounting policies involving revenue recognition and timing of related expenses as well as timing related to the launch of new packaging for the company's BC and Goody's brands.
Sales at Prestige's North American OTC Healthcare business were down by 0.5% to USD215 million, accounting for 84.6% of Prestige's total sales.
The International OTC Healthcare business saw sales drop by 7.2% to USD19.4 million, accounting for 7.6% of the company's total sales.
Meanwhile sales at the Household Cleaning business were down by 0.2% to USD19.8 million, representing 7.8% of Prestige's total sales.
Prestige said its net debt as of 30 June 2018 was approximately USD2.0 billion.
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