USANA Health Sciences Inc., a Salt Lake City, Utah-based health and wellness brand, has reported financial results for its fiscal first quarter ended March 31, 2018. Net sales were $292.0 million compared with $255.3 million in the prior-year period, or a 14.4 percent increase year-over-year.
Favorable currency exchange rates positively impacted net sales by $16.4 million for the quarter. Targeted product promotions offered by the company during the quarter contributed approximately $11 million to net sales, and the company’s launch of its new skincare line, Celavive contributed approximately $9 million in incremental sales for the quarter.
“We are off to a solid start to the year as we continue to see strong momentum in most of our regions around the world,” said CEO Kevin Guest. “The highlight of the quarter was our successful launch of the Celavive skincare line. We launched Celavive in every market except China, where we anticipate launching in the fourth quarter. The initial results from this launch show strong customer demand for this product line around the world. We also offered a targeted product promotion in China that benefited sales for the quarter.”
Net sales in the Asia Pacific region increased by 19.0 percent to $232.1 million for the first quarter of 2018. Within Asia Pacific, net sales:
- Increased 19.8% in Greater China;
- Increased 39.6% in North Asia; and
- Increased 11.6% in the Southeast Asia Pacific region.
Sales growth in Greater China was primarily driven by a 4.9 percent increase in active Customers in Mainland China, while sales growth in North Asia resulted from 17.9 percent active customer growth in South Korea. Sales growth in Southeast Asia Pacific was driven by 27.3 percent active customer growth in Malaysia and 18.2 percent active customer growth in Singapore. The total number of active customers in the Asia Pacific region increased by 5.7 percent year-over-year.
Net sales in the Americas and Europe region for the first quarter of 2018 decreased by 0.6 percent to $59.9 million, and active customers in this region declined 8.6 percent.
“Each of our Asia Pacific regions reported double-digit sales growth in the first quarter,” continued Guest. “We’re pleased not only with our continued growth in China, but also with the double-digit sales growth we reported in several other markets, including South Korea, Malaysia, Australia and Singapore. In the Americas and Europe region, net sales decreased on a year-over basis, but increased sequentially.
“Active customer growth continues to be a challenge for us in this region and a major focus of our team. Several of our 2018 growth strategies are intended to help generate customer growth in this region, including the opening of four new European markets in mid-June. Although we are forecasting sales to be relatively modest in these markets initially, we believe that the excitement of entering these new markets will help generate momentum within the overall region and, most importantly, we’re pleased to be able to offer USANA products to more families across the globe.”
To read the full USANA first quarter report, click here.
