Elizabeth Arden burdened by its celebrity fragrances

By

Sarah Ahssen

Published
May 12, 2015

For its third semester ended 31 March, American cosmetics group Elizabeth Arden has recorded 191.4 million dollars is revenue, down by 9.2% (-6% at a constant exchange rate). In North America, the group's sales dropped by 12%, while internationally they dropped by 6%.

Declines in sales of non-Elizabeth Arden branded fragrances reflect lower sales of celebrity fragrances, which primarily impacted the Company’s North American business, and a lower level of new fragrance innovation.

The group has notably seen a decline in sales of its celebrity fragrances, which include names like Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift. Indeed, this segment (celebrity and designer brands) saw a 17.6% drop to 102.9 million dollars.

For the period, the loss accumulates to 34.9 million dollars, compared to a loss of 26.4 million dollars last year.

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In restructuring mode, which includes a plan to discontinue its least profitable perfumes under license, the Elizabeth Arden brand has nevertheless recorded a 3% growth, at 88.4 million dollars.

E. Scott Beattie, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are pleased with the recent growth of the Elizabeth Arden brand that we are seeing across both our international and North American businesses, giving us confidence as we head into the re-launch of the Elizabeth Arden brand marketing campaign this fall."

For the first nine months of the financial year, sales amount to 810.6 million dollars, down 16.7%.