Armor All’s Earnings Tumble 46% in Quarter

Automotive appearance products giant Armor All Products Inc. said Friday that its fiscal 1996 first-quarter earnings took a huge tumble, dropping 46% to $3.5 million after what the company described as a wet and cool spring that stifled national sales.

Earnings per share for the three months ended June 30 fell to 16 cents from 30 cents a share, or a total of $6.4 million, a year earlier.

Revenue for the first period of $50.2 million was down 11% from $56.6 million. Company President Kenneth M. Evans said that he does not expect Armor All to recover the lost sales or profits during the rest of its fiscal year.

Armor All is being sued by a former research director who contends that some of its products can harm the automobile vinyl and rubber parts they are designed to clean and protect, but analysts said they did not believe the drop in sales and profits was related.

“I don’t think that many consumers heard all that,” said Mark Matheson, an industry analyst with Crowell, Weedon & Co. brokerage in Los Angeles. “I think that heavy competition and wet weather are to blame.”

On Wall Street, Armor All’s common stock dropped by $1.375 a share to close on the Nasdaq market Friday at $15.375.

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Armor All Takes a Hit

Armor All Products suffered a 46% decrease in net income in the first quarter. Total revenue and per-share earnings also declined. Figures in millions of dollars, except per-share data:

FY FY Percent 1995 1996 change Total revenue $57.0 $50.2 (-11.2) Net earnings 6.4 3.5 (-45.6) Earnings per share 0.30 0.16 (-46.7)

Source: Armor All; Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times