Shares of Energizer Holdings Inc. ENR dropped 4.6% in premarket trading Monday, after the battery company reported fiscal first-quarter profit and sales that fell below expectations, as lower volume and the exit of some battery customers and products were only partially offset by higher pricing. Net income for the quarter to Dec. 31 declined to $49.0 million, or 68 cents a share, from $56.0 million, or 83 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of 72 cents missed the FactSet consensus of 77 cents. Sales dropped 9,.6% to $765.1 million, below the FactSet consensus of $789.4 million. Gross margin improved to 39.0% from 36.8%, while expenses as a percent of sales increased to 14.9% from 13.2%, with advertising and promotion expenses as a percent of sales growing to 7.0% from 6.1%. The company reiterated its fiscal 2023 adjusted EPS outlook of $3.00 to $3.30, which surrounds the FactSet consensus of $3.15. The stock has soared 28.1% over the past three months through Friday, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 9.7%.
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