Spectrum Brands (NYSE: SPB) reported Q1 EPS of $0.20, $0.13 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.33. Revenue for the quarter came in at $871.5 million versus the consensus estimate of $900.21 million.

• Net Sales Declined 1.0% and Organic Sales Declined 0.3%
• GAAP Operating Loss Driven by the Divestiture of European Dog and Cat Food Manufacturing Operations and Related Impairments
• Adjusted EBITDA Declined, In-Line with Our Expectations
• Reaffirms Fiscal 2020 Net Sales, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash Flow Targets
• Executed a $125 Million Accelerated Share Repurchase Program (ASR) and Repurchased $81 Million of Common Stock Through Open Market Repurchases

“We experienced organic growth in Home & Personal Care and Global Pet Care, while timing issues in Home & Garden and Hardware & Home Improvement drove us flat overall during the quarter. The decline in adjusted EBITDA was in line with our expectations as tariffs exceeded the ramp-up of our productivity improvements. We expect to resume sales growth this quarter and, additionally, savings from our Global Productivity Improvement Plan are expected to offset our tariff headwinds. We continue to expect net sales, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow growth in 2020,” said David Maura, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Spectrum Brands Holdings.

“We continued to make progress on a number of fronts in the first quarter. First, we entered into an agreement for the sale of our dog and cat food manufacturing operations in Coevorden, The Netherlands. This action represents progress against our plan in Global Pet Care to exit non-core assets and focus our efforts on our core growth brands. Second, we rewarded shareholders by executing a $125 million ASR and repurchasing 1.3 million shares of common stock for $81.4 million through open market repurchases during the quarter. And third, we made significant progress on our plans to generate over $100 million of run-rate savings from Global Productivity Improvement Plan over the next 15 to 18 months,” said Mr. Maura.

Fiscal 2020 Outlook for Continuing Operations

Spectrum Brands continues to expect low single-digit reported net sales growth, with foreign exchange expected to have a slightly negative impact based upon current rates.

We continue to expect fiscal 2020 adjusted EBITDA to be between $570 and $590 million, and adjusted free cash flow to be between $240 million and $260 million.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Spectrum Brands (SPB) click here.