Summary
By signing such figures as Britney Spears and Jeff Gordon to its list of celebrity endorsers, Elizabeth Arden is positioning itself for excellent growth in 2005, according to Business Week. Already a major player in the cosmetics and fragrances market, Business Week expects that Elizabeth Arden's marketing campaign will bring in new customers. Thus, they have given the company a 5-star or "strong buy" rating.
Original source:
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/feb2005/nf20050215_5641.htm
Details
hile the company's newest celebrity-themed fragrances may lack the old-time glamour of its department-store mainstays -- Elizabeth Taylor and Elizabeth Arden -- Standard & Poor's thinks its future growth is likely to come from consumers' channel shift to mass retail, along with new fragrances, acquisitions, and growing distribution.
We consider Arden a growth stock in a mature industry that investors can purchase at a reasonable price.
The company's strong execution, coupled with improving stature in the fragrance and cosmetics industries, will help manufacturers and celebrities look to Arden as an attractive partner, we believe.
Net sales of fragrance and ancillary products were $623 million in fiscal 2004 ended June, about 76% of the total.
YOUNGER CELEBRITIES Arden owns and licenses about 50 fragrance brands and distributes more than 250 scents under brands manufactured by others, mainly to mass retailers.
Over the years, the business has developed or acquired an extensive list of popular fragrance brands such as Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds, Elizabeth Arden, Geoffrey Beene, and Halston.
Indeed, Arden had 18 of the 25 top-selling prestige fragrances in the U.S. mass retail channel in 2003, according to the NPD Group and company sources.
We think the Britney Spears' Curious fragrance, introduced in the September, 2004, quarter, has been a great success.
As a result, the fragrance's distribution has been extended to international markets, with plans to launch a second Britney Spears
fragrance this fall.
With our projection of nearly 9% average growth in sales and 28% in earnings over the next two fiscal years, we view the stock as undervalued.
We see operating income increasing 18% in fiscal 2005, with expectations for significantly wider gross margins than in the prior year and a
marketing spending boost to support new products.
About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate and award-winning journalist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He has authored more than 1,800 articles and dozens of reports, guides and interviews on natural health topics, and he has authored and published several downloadable personal preparedness courses including a downloadable course focused on safety and self defense. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2010, Adams co-founded NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing site that has now grown in popularity. He also launched an online retailer of environmentally-friendly products (BetterLifeGoods.com) and uses a portion of its profits to help fund non-profit endeavors. He's also a noted technology pioneer and founded a software company in 1993 that developed the HTML email newsletter software currently powering the NaturalNews subscriptions. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and regularly pursues cycling, nature photography, Capoeira and Pilates. He's also author a large number of health books offered by Truth Publishing and is the creator of numerous reference website including NaturalPedia.com and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. His websites also include the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the innate healing ability of the human body. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org
Have comments on this article? Post them here:
people have commented on this article.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Email this article to a friend
Share
this article on: 
