Nu Skin – Q1 2012 Revenue Up 17% To $462 Million

Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: NUS) today announced record first-quarter results with revenue of $462.0 million, a 17 percent improvement over the prior-year period. Revenue was positively impacted 1 percent from foreign currency fluctuations. Earnings per share for the quarter were $0.74, compared to $0.24 in the prior year, or $0.56 when excluding first quarter 2011 charges related to a Japan customs ruling.

Following a record year, we continued to generate great momentum in the first quarter as a result of the positive response to our ageLOC product launches and healthy trends in each of our regions, said Truman Hunt, president and chief executive officer. New product roll outs helped boost revenue trends in the Americas, North Asia and Europe, as reflected by strong executive distributor growth of 11 percent during the quarter.

Emerging markets also performed well in the first quarter. The Greater China region posted a 35 percent year-over-year increase, and the South Asia/Pacific region continued to build momentum in anticipation of the launch of new ageLOC products in the second quarter, said Hunt.

Regional Results

North Asia. First-quarter revenue in North Asia was $182.2 million, compared to $179.4 million for the same period in 2011. Regional results benefited approximately 2 percent from foreign currency fluctuations. South Korea experienced a local-currency revenue improvement of 8 percent offset by Japan's local-currency revenue decline of 5 percent. The number of executive distributors in the region was down 3 percent while the number of active distributors improved 3 percent.

Greater China. First-quarter revenue in Greater China increased 35 percent to $92.6 million, compared to $68.6 million in the prior-year period. Foreign currency fluctuations positively impacted revenue 3 percent. The executive distributor count in the region improved 31 percent, while the number of active distributors increased 25 percent compared to the prior year.

South Asia/Pacific. Revenue in South Asia/Pacific was $77.3 million, a 55 percent improvement compared to the prior year. Sales in the quarter included approximately $15 million of products sold during the prior-year pre-launch that were shipped in the first quarter, and were positively impacted less than 1 percent by foreign currency fluctuations. The region's first-quarter executive count improved 23 percent while the active distributor count increased 8 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

Americas. Revenue in the Americas improved 19 percent to $66.3 million, compared to $55.9 million in the prior-year period, including a 14 percent revenue increase in the United States. The number of executive distributors grew 15 percent while the number of active distributors increased 7 percent during the quarter.

Europe. Revenue in Europe was $43.5 million, a 4 percent improvement over the prior-year period. Results in the region were negatively impacted approximately 5 percent by foreign currency fluctuations. Both executive and active distributor counts in Europe increased 4 percent compared to the prior year.