Blyth, Inc. Announces Special Cash Dividend of $1.50 Per Share

Published on Thursday, 17 November 2011 10:20 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

GREENWICH, Conn., Nov. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Blyth, Inc. (NYSE: BTH), a leading multi-channel designer and marketer of home fragrance and home decor, as well as health and wellness products, today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a special cash dividend of $1.50 per share on the Company's common stock, for a total dividend payment of approximately $12.5 million.  The special dividend will be payable to shareholders of record as of December 1, 2011 and will be paid on December 15, 2011.

The special dividend declared today is in addition to regular semi-annual dividends declared and paid during the fiscal year ending January 31, 2012 totaling $0.20 per share on the Company's common stock.  Accordingly, inclusive of the special dividend announced today, the Company will declare and pay dividends of $1.70 per share, or $14.2 million, in fiscal year 2012.

Robert B. Goergen, Blyth's Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We take a conservative approach to our regular dividend payments given the seasonal nature of our business in spite of our strong cash position.  We have now examined our dividend payment based on Blyth's operating performance and general economic conditions.  The Board of Directors believes dividends represent an important element in support of our goal to deliver long-term returns to our shareholders."

Blyth, Inc., headquartered in Greenwich, CT, USA, is a multi-channel company primarily focused on direct selling.  We design and market home fragrance products and decorative accessories, as well as weight management products, nutritional supplements and energy drink mixes.  These products are sold through the home party plan method of direct selling and through network marketing, respectively. The Company also designs and markets household convenience items and personalized gifts through the catalog/internet channel, as well as tabletop lighting and chafing fuel for the foodservice trade.  The Company manufactures most of its candles and chafing fuel and sources nearly all of its other products.  In North America, its products are sold direct to the consumer under the PartyLite®, Two Sisters Gourmet® by PartyLite and ViSalus Sciences® brands, to consumers in the catalog/Internet channel under the As We Change®, Easy Comforts®, Miles Kimball®, Exposures® and Walter Drake®, and to the Foodservice industry under the Sterno®, Ambria® and HandyFuel® brands.  In Europe, Blyth's products are also sold under the PartyLite brand.  

Blyth, Inc. may be found on the Internet at www.blyth.com.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts.  Actual results could differ materially due to various factors, including the slowing of the United States or European economies or retail environments, the risk that we will be unable to maintain our historic growth rate, our ability to respond appropriately to changes in product demand, the risk that we will be unable to integrate the businesses that we acquire into our existing operations, the risks (including foreign currency fluctuations, economic and political instability, transportation delays, difficulty in maintaining quality control, trade and foreign tax laws and others) associated with international sales and foreign sourced products, risks associated with our ability to recruit new independent sales consultants, our dependence on key corporate management personnel, risks associated with the sourcing of raw materials for our products, competition in terms of price and new product introductions, risks associated with our information technology systems (including, susceptibility to outages due to fire, floods, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, break-ins and similar events) and other factors described in this press release and in the Company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K.

SOURCE Blyth, Inc.