Energizer Sees Fiscal-Q1 Sales Drop

Staff On Dec 18 2000 - 8:00am

ST. LOUIS -Energizer Holdings, maker of Energizer batteries, said it expects sales in its first-quarter fiscal 2001 ending Dec. 30 will be 12-16 percent lower than the $673.6 million recorded in the same three months in fiscal 2000.

"We anticipated a lower demand for batteries and lighting products in the quarter vs. the huge Y2K-driven acceleration of the same period a year ago," said CEO J. Patrick Mulcahy. "In addition, aggressive inventory management by a number of our U.S. retail customers and currency devaluation in several key markets have amplified the negative comparison with last year. As we move beyond our first quarter, we will encounter much easier comparisons."

Despite its sales decline from first-quarter 1999, the company continues to grow U.S. market share, Mulcahy said, noting that ACNielsen data for the 13 weeks ended Nov. 18 indicates Energizer's market share has grown 2 points to 34 percent.