Strong Growth in Southeast Asia, Pharmanex Brand Makes for Good Nu Skin 3Q

Strong Growth in Southeast Asia, Pharmanex Brand Makes for Good Nu Skin 3Q

PROVO, Utah--Nu Skin Enterprises Inc.(NYSE:NUS) posted higherrevenues for its third quarter (3Q01), ended Sept. 30, mainly due to salesincreases in Southeast Asia businesses and continued growth for the Pharmanexbrand. Net sales came in at $224.2 million, a 4-percent rise in revenue comparedto last year's comparable quarter (3Q00), which brought in $215.6 million. Grossmargin slipped to 79.5 percent of sales for 3Q01, compared to 82.9 percent ofsales in 3Q00; operating expenses rose slightly, to $158.7 million from $154.9million. Nu Skin booked a net profit of $12.5 million (or $.15 per shareearned), a 16.2-percent decrease from the $15.0 million (or $.18 per shareearned) for 3Q00. According to the company, foreign currency fluctuationsimpacted revenue by 9 percent and earnings by $.07 per share compared to thesame quarter last year.

In terms of regional sales, North Asia's 3Q01 remained relatively the same at$141.4 million; North America dipped 4.9 percent to $36.7 million during 3Q01;and Southeast Asia put in an impressive showing, going up 34.8 percent to $39.8million, mainly due to large sales gains in Thailand (up 69 percent), Australia(up 66 percent) and Hong Kong (up 23 percent). Because of Southeast Asia growth,Nu Skin was moving ahead with plans to enter into Malaysian market in November.

"While we have tempered our expectations for the United States in theshort-term, we believe this will be offset by continued growth in ourinternational markets," reported Nu Skin's president and chief executiveofficer, Steven Lund.

Nu Skin also attributed its successful quarter to the company's Internetinitiatives, automatic purchase programs and the launch of key Nu Skin andPharmanex Products. However, for the first time Pharmanex posted higher salesthan Nu Skin, which was down 3 percent in sales to $103.1 million, whilePharmanex sales rose 10 percent to $104.8 million for 3Q01. In addition, BigPlanet revenue rose 51 percent to $16.3 million for this year's third quarter.