Newell Rubbermaid buckles down in Q1

Dealing with the adverse impacts of a harness buckle recall on some of its car seats and the weather-related slowdown in its home business, Newell Rubbermaid sales slipped 0.7% in the first quarter to $1.23 billion. 

“Strong core sales growth in Writing offset declines in Home Solutions and Baby, yielding normalized earnings per share of $0.35, flat with last year's results,” said Michael Polk, CEO. 

Net income declined 2.4% to $52.9 million. 

Tools segment net sales were $187.8 million, a 0.4% decline compared with the prior year. Core sales increased 2.4% driven by strong volume and share growth on Lenox in North America and Irwin in Europe.

Polk expects “the company's core sales and earnings per share growth to accelerate through the balance of the year as we significantly increase advertising and promotion investment levels in support of our brands and innovation.”

The company’s long list of consumer brands includes Sharpie, Paper Mate, Irwin, Lenox, Rubbermaid, Levolor and more.