Nu Skin beats expectations

PROVO — Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., a maker of personal-care products, said sales in the latest quarter were slightly below last year, but earnings were above analysts' expectations.

The Provo-based company Tuesday said it earned $21.9 million, or 31 cents a share, on revenue of $306.3 million in the fourth quarter.

In the previous year, it earned $23.1 million, or 31 cents a share, on revenue of $275.9 million.

Analysts were expecting earnings of 29 cents a share, according to Thomson First Call.

The company said expenses in the latest quarter included about $5 million from a distributor convention in Japan that wasn't held in the previous year.

The company markets personal care products under the Nu Skin brand, nutritional supplements under the Pharmanex brand and technology-based products and services under the Big Planet brand.

It said it processed a record 369,000 subscriptions in December, up from 226,000 a year earlier. "This source of recurring revenue increased more than 50 percent in 2004 and accounted for 31 percent of global sales for the fourth quarter," said Truman Hunt, president and chief executive officer.

For the first quarter, the company expects earnings of 21 cents to 23 cents a share on revenue of $275 million to $280 million. For the full year, it expects earnings of $1.15 a share to $1.22 a share on revenue of $1.20 billion to $1.22 billion.

"We are optimistic about our growth opportunities in 2005," Hunt said. "In 2004 we achieved a significant milestone in the company's history by surpassing $1 billion in annual revenue. Moving forward, we are driving growth by investing in opportunities which we believe will provide healthy returns. For example, as we await the release of new direct-selling regulations in China in the next few months, we are adding additional stores and infrastructure, launching our Pharmanex business and building manufacturing capacity for our nutrition products."

For the full year ended Dec. 31, the company earned $77.7 million, or $1.07 a share, on revenue of $1.14 billion.

In the previous year, it earned $67.9 million, or 85 cents a share, on revenue of $986.5 million.

Also Tuesday, Nu Skin's board approved a 13 percent increase in the quarterly dividend and authorized an additional $20 million to the company's ongoing stock repur- chase program.

The quarterly dividend of 9 cents per share will be paid March 23 to stockholders of record on March 4.

The approval to increase stock repurchases is in addition to the $7 million remaining from the previous authorization, bringing the total amount of authorized repurchases to $27 million.

Nu Skin's shares fell 45 cents, or 1.8 percent, to close at $24.20 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. In the past year, they have ranged from $16.26 to $28.15.

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Contributing: Dow Jones; The Associated Press