St. Ives Blames Marketing Snafu for Drop in Profits

St. Ives Laboratories Inc., citing a marketing snafu, said its second-quarter profit tumbled 37% from a year earlier on a 7% drop in sales.

The Chatsworth-based maker of shampoos and other personal-care products said its net income in the quarter that ended June 30 fell to $961,000 from $1.53 million a year earlier, while its sales declined to $26.8 million from $28.7 million.

St. Ives blamed the lower results partly on a new packaging format for some of its Swiss Formula hair-care products “that was not accepted by the consumer” after its introduction in late 1989, forcing the company to convert back to the original packaging.

For the first half of 1990, St. Ives’ net income dropped 48% to $1.63 million from $3.12 million, and its six-month sales were off 12% to $51 million from $58.2 million.