Drop in Redken Earnings Blamed on Higher Taxes

Redken Laboratories said it earned $1.3 million in its first quarter ended Oct. 31, down 9% from a year earlier because of higher income taxes. Sales rose 9%, to $29.4 million.

A year ago, the Canoga Park hair-care products maker earned $1.4 million on sales of $26.9 million. Earnings per share in the most recent quarter were 42 cents, against 46 cents a year earlier, adjusted for a 10% stock dividend in April.

Pretax earnings for the quarter were $2.5 million, up 3.3%.

Company President John E. Meehan said that sales improved both domestically and abroad and were helped by the introduction of several new products. He said improved operating results also reflected the company’s cost-cutting efforts.

Redken is attempting to recover from an off year. For the fiscal year ended July 31, the company earned $2 million, or 65 cents a share, down from $8.4 million, or $2.77 a share, the year before. Sales were $103.2 million, down from $108.5 million.