By Phil Wahba
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Newell Rubbermaid Inc
The consumer products company gave a 2010 outlook below Wall Street's average estimate, partly because of the impact of the bolivar devaluation.
Chief Executive Officer Mark Ketchum said in a statement that Newell had won market share in the majority of its businesses despite what he called a challenging year.
The company expects profit to rise in 2010 on continued improvements to its gross margins, forecasting earnings per share of $1.35 to $1.45, up from $1.31 in 2009.
But that view falls below the average Wall Street forecast of $1.47 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Newell said the devaluation of the Venezuelan bolivar would shave off between 4 cents and 5 cents per share from its full-year earnings excluding one-time items.
The impact of the Venezuelan bolivar devaluation was not in the analysts' consensus view, so Newell's forecast is "roughly in line," said Morgan Stanley analyst Dara Mohsenian.
Newell shares were down 2 percent at $13.92 in early New York Stock Exchange trading.
BETTER MARGINS
The Atlanta-based company said its gross margin had risen by 7 percentage points to 37 percent, an improvement it attributed in part to its exit from certain low-margin product lines such as some plastic chair mats and some plastic storage totes.
Newell "has made solid progress in working capital management, cost control, and operating cash flow generation," BMO Capital Markets analyst Connie Maneaty wrote in a note.
The company expects margins to rise by 0.75 to 1.00 percentage point in 2010, while it anticipates core sales, which exclude discontinued lines, to increase at a low single-digit percentage rate.
Newell reported earnings of $60.6 million, or 20 cents a share, for the fourth quarter, compared with a year-earlier loss of $256.7 million, or 92 cents a share.
Excluding one time items, the company earned 27 cents a share, in line with the analysts' average forecast.
Net sales fell 2 percent to $1.42 billion, but were above analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion.
(Reporting by Phil Wahba and Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Derek Caney and Lisa Von Ahn)
