WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (USNA) announced, for 2017, the company targets: consolidated net sales between $1.04 billion and $1.07 billion, representing approximate growth between 3.4% and 6.4%, or between 8.5% and 11.5% on a constant currency basis; and earnings per share between $3.80 and $4.10. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report profit per share of $4.47 on revenue of $1.11 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Chief Financial Officer Paul Jones said, 'Our outlook for 2017 projects solid constant currency net sales growth, led again by our Asia Pacific region. We also anticipate making incremental investments in the business and introducing new initiatives throughout the year that are intended to drive customer growth across most of our regions.'
Earnings per share for the fourth quarter decreased by 5.4% to $0.87, compared with $0.92 in the prior year period. The company said this decrease in earnings per share is the result of lower net earnings, including changes in currency that negatively impacted earnings per share by an estimated $0.10, partially offset by a lower share count.
For the fourth quarter of 2016, net sales increased to $252.9 million, up 8.7%, compared with $232.6 million in the prior-year period. Excluding the impact of currency, net sales would have increased by 12.7% for the fourth quarter of 2016. Net sales growth was driven by an 11.9% increase in the number of active Associates.
'While USANA finished the year with another quarter of solid top line and Associate growth, several initiatives we implemented during the fourth quarter resulted in net earnings at the lower end of our guidance,' said Kevin Guest, CEO.
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