USANA Has Change of Heart

SALT LAKE CITY--USANA Health Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:USNA) reported that because it expects operating results for its first quarter (1Q02) to exceed company estimates, the company will not change its name nor take the company partially private as it had originally announced in mid-March.

USANA (www.usana.com) had planned to sell its operations to its founder and president, Myron Wentz, as well as change its name to Innova Ventures Inc. On March 18, USANA reported that Wentz would surrender his 49.5-percent ownership in USANA's shares to Innova for $1.60 per share (or $7.7 million), a $5 million promissory note and other assets in exchange for the rights to USANA's operations. (For more on this story, visit www.naturalproductsinsider.com/hotnews/23h18173640.html.)

But due to better-than-expected financial results forecasted for 1Q02, the plan has changed. The company reported earnings for 1Q02 will be around $.10 to $.12 per share, approximately a 100-percent increase over earnings posted in the comparative period last year (1Q01). According to USANA, earnings improved due to increased sales (expected to be $28.6 million, a 3.7-percent increase over 1Q01) and better operating margins. "To allow our shareholders to benefit from any increased value, I have decided to terminate my current effort to acquire USANA's operating assets on the terms previously announced," Wentz stated.

USANA plans to issue a formal 1Q02 announcement April 24.