Helen of Troy reported a nice 15.0 percent increase in sales to $144.9 million for its Housewares segment, which includes Hydro Flask and OXO, for the fourth quarter of its financial year ended on Feb. 29, despite a drop outside the U.S. Lifted by new product introductions, sales grew online and offline. There were lower closeout sales and the product mix improved, yet the segment’s operating margin fell by 6.8 percentage points to 16.2 percent due to higher advertising expenses, higher freight and other distribution costs, plus higher restructuring charges. On an adjusted basis, the operating margin fell to 11.8 percent of sales from 18.1 percent a year ago. Adding other segments, the group suffered a loss from continuing operations in the quarter, but it posted a 2.7 percent higher net profit of $47.8 million on total sales of $442.4 million. For the full fiscal year, group sales were up by 9.2 percent to $1.71 billion, with the Housewares segment reporting 22 percent increases in both sales and operating profit.

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