Blyth, Inc. Comments on Fiscal Year 2011 Outlook

GREENWICH, Conn., April 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Blyth, Inc. (NYSE: BTH), a leading designer and marketer of home fragrance and home decor products, today commented on its outlook for the fiscal year ending January 31, 2011.  Earnings Per Share are expected to be in the range of $3.20 to $3.50 for fiscal year 2011.  

Earlier today the Company reported fiscal year 2010 Diluted Earnings Per Share of $1.98, which included a charge for goodwill and other intangibles of $1.71 per share, associated with the Company's investment in ViSalus Sciences, and restructuring charges of $0.15 per share resulting from the merger of Blyth's wholesale seasonal and home decor businesses into a new company, Midwest-CBK.  Also included is a substantial tax benefit of $1.01 per share, related to the favorable closure of various tax audits that were previously accrued on the balance sheet.  Excluding these items, fiscal 2010 normalized earnings per share was $2.84 as compared to the fiscal year 2011 earnings per share guidance of $3.20 - $3.50.

Management's projected range for fiscal year 2011 Earnings Per Share reflects its expectations for improved profitability in PartyLite North America.  Margin improvement in the Miles Kimball Company and cost reductions resulting from the merger of Midwest-CBK are also anticipated.  The Company is also projecting lower interest expense due to overall debt reduction.  Lastly, given the importance of international sales and profitability, management recognizes in its estimates the potential for increased volatility in the currency markets.

Robert B. Goergen, Blyth's Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We anticipate profit growth in fiscal year 2011 across all of Blyth segments despite a continued challenging macroeconomic environment and our projections for conservative consumer discretionary spending.  New product development, focused promotional activity and continued, rigorous cost management are key factors impacting Blyth's forecast.  Moreover, disciplined working capital management is expected to result in strong cash flow from operations, though not as much so as in fiscal year 2010, which included certain one-time opportunities."  

Cash flow from operations in excess of $60 million for the full fiscal year is anticipated.  Capital spending of approximately $10 million is also expected for fiscal year 2011.

The sum of any individual amounts may not equal the total reported amount for Blyth overall due to rounding.

Management will conduct an informal Question and Answer session via dial-in call on April 9th at 2:00 pm EDT.  The date, time and dial-in information of future calls will be available in the "Investor Relations" section of the Company's website, www.blyth.com, no later than one week prior to the next scheduled session.  Management will not present prepared remarks during such calls and will cover no material, non-public information.

Blyth, Inc., headquartered in Greenwich, CT, USA, is a Home Expressions company that markets an extensive array of home fragrance products, decorative accessories, seasonal decorations and household convenience items.  The Company sells its products through multiple channels of distribution, including the home party plan method of direct selling and one-on-one direct selling, as well as through the wholesale and catalog/Internet channels.  Blyth also markets tabletop lighting and chafing fuel for the Away From Home or foodservice trade.  The Company manufactures most of its candles and chafing fuel and sources nearly all of its other products.  Its products are sold direct to the consumer under the PartyLite®, Two Sisters Gourmet® by PartyLite and ViSalus Sciences® brands, to retailers in the premium and specialty retail channels under the Colonial Candle®, CBK® and Seasons of Cannon Falls® brands, to retailers in the mass retail channel under the Sterno® brand, to consumers in the catalog/Internet channel under the As We Change®, Miles Kimball®, Exposures®, Walter Drake®, The Home Marketplace®, Easy Comforts® and Boca Java® brands, and to the Foodservice industry under the Sterno®, Ambria® and HandyFuel® brands.  In Europe, Blyth's products are also sold under the PartyLite brand.  

Blyth, Inc. may be found on the Internet at www.blyth.com.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts.  Actual results could differ materially due to various factors, including the slowing of the United States or European economies or retail environments, the risk that we will be unable to maintain our historic growth rate, our ability to respond appropriately to changes in product demand, the risk that we will be unable to integrate the businesses that we acquire into our existing operations, the risks (including foreign currency fluctuations, economic and political instability, transportation delays, difficulty in maintaining quality control, trade and foreign tax laws and others) associated with international sales and foreign sourced products, risks associated with our ability to recruit new independent sales consultants, our dependence on key corporate management personnel, risks associated with the sourcing of raw materials for our products, competition in terms of price and new product introductions, risks associated with our information technology systems (including, susceptibility to outages due to fire, floods, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, break-ins and similar events) and other factors described in this press release and in the Company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K.

SOURCE Blyth, Inc.