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EXHIBIT 99.2
CONTACT: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Richard T. Browning
Chief Financial Officer
(203) 661-1926, ext. 6628
Jane F. Casey
Vice President
(203) 661-1926, ext. 6619
BLYTH, INC. COMMENTS ON FULL-YEAR OUTLOOK
EPS GROWTH EXPECTED TO EXCEED 10% YEAR-TO-YEAR
GREENWICH, CT, August 30, 2000: Blyth, Inc. (NYSE:BTH), a global leader in home
fragrance products, today disclosed its full year projections of 7 - 8% sales
growth and 11 - 14% EPS growth after posting its record second quarter results.
Full year EPS of $2.10 - $2.15 is expected, compared to $1.89 in the prior
fiscal year.
Commenting on the sales and earnings projections, Robert B. Goergen, Chairman of
the Board and CEO, said "Our anticipated results, which are in excess of growth
rates typically experienced by companies in other consumer product categories,
reflect Blyth's solid performance in a variety of distribution channels,
including direct sales, premium retail, mass market and away from home, in both
North America and Europe."
With 26% of its sales outside the U.S., Blyth is poised to take advantage of
what it considers to be an excellent opportunity for growth in continental
Europe. The Company believes that its fragranced product lines in this market
could experience annual growth of as much as 30% over the next 5 years. Over the
past year, Blyth has conducted extensive market research and positioned itself
to launch a number of fragranced candle products in the European retail market,
where fragranced products are estimated to represent less than 10% of total
candle sales. By contrast, approximately 75% of candle sales in North America
are estimated to be fragranced. Blyth currently sells its fragranced products in
nearly a dozen European countries both through its direct sales company,
PartyLite Gifts, which has been operating in Europe for over 5 years, and
through a variety of retail channels, where distribution has been expanded over
the past year as the result of Blyth's acquisition of the Swedish-based
Liljeholmens Stearinfabriks AB. The success of the Company's European strategy
will be influenced by the relative strength or weakness of European currencies.
Blyth also indicated that it anticipates strong growth in consumer retail
channels in the U.S., where its premium Colonial brand has experienced very
solid double-digit growth in department and independent gift stores and its
Ambria-TM- brand has outperformed the category and its larger competitors in
IRI-measured mass channels for the past 5 consecutive quarters.
Mr. Goergen also noted that, "We believe Blyth's record sales performance, which
we have achieved every quarter since becoming a publicly traded company in 1994,
will continue into the future. In addition, once again, we expect robust cash
flow from operations, in excess of the
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strong $119.4 million generated in last fiscal year, providing Blyth with
substantial financial flexibility. Thus, Blyth should be able to provide
excellent value over the long term for our shareholders."
Blyth, Inc., headquartered in Greenwich, CT, designs, manufactures and
markets an extensive line of candles and home fragrance products including
scented candles, potpourri and environmental fragrance products, and markets
a broad range of related candle accessories and decorative seasonal products.
Its products are sold in the United States under various brand names,
including Colonial Candle of Cape Cod-Registered Trademark-, PartyLite
Gifts-Registered Trademark-, Kate's Original Recipe-TM-, Carolina
Designs-Registered Trademark-, Ambria-TM-, Florasense-Registered Trademark-,
Jeanmarie-Registered Trademark- and FilterMate-Registered Trademark-and in
Europe under the Gies, Liljeholmens and Colony brands. It is also a leading
producer of portable heating fuel products sold under the Sterno-Registered
Trademark- and Handy Fuel-Registered Trademark- brand names. Net Sales for
the twelve months ended July 31, 2000 totaled $1,133,602,000.
Blyth, Inc. can be found on the Internet at www.blythinc.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 which are
other than statements of historical facts. Actual results could differ
materially due to various factors, including the risk of maintaining the
Company's growth rate, the Company's ability to respond to increased product
demand, the risks (including foreign currency fluctuations) associated with
international sales and foreign products, the risks of being able to recruit new
independent sales consultants in North America, dependence on key management
personnel, competition in terms of price and new product introductions, and
other factors described in this press release, and in the Company's Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 30, 2000, and in the Company's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2000.
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