Newell Rubbermaid posts declines in Q2

Newell Rubbermaid’s net sales declined 1.9% to $1.52 billion in the second quarter ended June 30. Net income declined 23.8% to $111.8 million. But those declines didn’t prevent CEO Michael Polk from looking at the bright side and pointing to momentum.



Core sales, which exclude the impact of changes in foreign currency translation, grew by 0.4%. And net sales for the first six months were $2.85 billion, up 1.0 % from the first-half results last year.



"Our solid second-quarter results build on the momentum established in the first quarter, resulting in a good first half of 2012,” Polk said. “During the first half, we reported 2.5% core sales growth, normalized operating margin expansion of 20 basis points, and normalized earnings per share increase of 8.1%."



Among Newell Rubbermaid’s brands are Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Irwin and Lenox.



The company also pointed to double-digit core sales growth in emerging markets.