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Aug 16, 2011
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Estee Lauder's profit rises

By
Reuters
Published
Aug 16, 2011

August 16 - Cosmetics company Estee Lauder Companies Inc forecast fiscal year earnings below Wall Street's expectations after turning in a better than expected quarterly profit, and its shares fell 6.2 percent.

Estée Lauder
Pure Color Lipstick by Estee Lauder

Profit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011, which ended in June, came in just ahead of analysts' expectations.

The company forecast fiscal year 2012 earnings of $4.00 to $4.20 per share, excluding items, while analysts were expecting it to earn $4.37 a share.

That forecast "appears conservative," said Oppenheimer & Co analyst Joseph Altobello.

"While the company continues to execute very well and has made substantial progress on its strategic initiatives, we continue to believe the shares fairly reflect this," said Altobello, who kept his "perform" rating on the shares.

Shares of Estee Lauder fell to $94.67 in premarket trading, after closing at $100.85 on Friday.

Fourth-quarter earnings for the maker of Bobbi Brown and MAC Cosmetics were $41.1 million, or 20 cents a share, versus a profit of $23.9 million, or 12 cents a share, a year ago.

The results included $12 million, or 4 cents per share, in returns and charges associated with restructuring activities.

Excluding such items, earnings per share fell to 25 cents from 29 cents a year earlier, and topped analysts' average forecast of 24 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net sales rose 12 percent to $2.06 billion. Sales in the United States, travel retail, and emerging markets were particularly strong.

Estee Lauder forecast first-quarter earnings of $1.10 to $1.20 per share before restructuring charges. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.12 per share.

(Reporting by Eunju Lie, additional reporting by Jessica Wohl)

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