Sales & Earnings In Brief

NBTY realizes income leap post Leiner integration: First-quarter net income soars 461 percent to $75.6 million from $13.5 million - or $1.18 diluted earnings per share compared to 21 cents - as NBTY put the costs of integrating Leiner Health Products behind it. Additionally, former Leiner customers that looked elsewhere for private-label manufacturing before NBTY acquired the firm have largely returned, said CEO Scott Rudolph during a Jan. 28 earnings call. "Much of the business has come back absolutely and some of it is on the way back," Rudolph said. The Ronkonkoma, N.Y.-based supplement firm reported net sales of $751.2 million in the October-December period, a jump of 13.8 percent. NBTY's wholesale/U.S. nutrition business expanded 15.8 percent to $471.1 million, and Rudolph said the company is in the early stages of expanding some of its domestic brands overseas. The European retail operation grew 12.8 percent to $176 million in the quarter as NBTY continued integrating the U.K. Julian Graves stores (1"The Tan Sheet" Nov. 30, 2009)