Tupperware Brands shares tumbled in after-hours trading after the company downgraded its first-quarter outlook due, in part, to problems at a now closed factory in France.
The food storage specialist said Monday it expected revenue for the first quarter of 2018 to decline 2% versus the prior year, which would be three points below the low end of its previous guidance.
Excluding items, earnings are expected to be between $0.87 and $0.92 compared to the previous forecast of $1.01 to $1.06. Tupperware will release its first-quarter results on April 25.
On news of the revised guidance, Tupperware stock fell 6.7% to $44 in Monday’s extended trading session.
The company said customer service issues related to the French manufacturing and distribution facility “had a larger than previously foreseen impact on sales, most significantly in France and Germany. Any ongoing impact is expected to be much less significant.”
The first-quarter guidance, it said, was also negatively impacted by lower-than-expected sales in Indonesia and supply chain issues affecting product availability in Brazil.
“We had expected challenges related to the closure of our French manufacturing facility, but the collateral impacts ran deeper than anticipated,” Tupperware CEO Rick Goings said in a news release.
“In Indonesia, we continue scaling-up a number of newer initiatives that we expect will lead to better performance in time, and we have also installed a new managing director during the first quarter,” he added. “Brazil had an unusual number of external factors that hurt our momentum. We expect these issues to be temporary, as our strong management team in Brazil has identified, and is addressing, the key issues.”
For the second quarter, Tupperware now expects sales will be modestly lower than previously forecast and no change from its previous expectations in the second half of the year.
“We have confidence in how our business will perform going forward, as we continue to evolve our relationship-selling business model to include greater access to our powerful brands and innovative products,” Goings said.