NBTY turns Leiner corner
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
NBTY's acquisition of Leiner Health Products scared some investors initially, but now they see the integration of the private-label supplement maker as a success, NBTY President and Chief Financial Officer Harvey Kamil says. The stock market appreciates "that we were able to make" Leiner "a profitable acquisition," Kamil said Sept. 23 at the Canaccord Adams Healthy Living Conference. He said NBTY was "squeezed" because it paid "very high prices" for products to build up inventory to serve Leiner's customers. From buying Leiner in June 2008 through March 2009, NBTY took losses on many of the items it shipped, but it made the deal profitable after raising prices in April, Kamil added (1"The Tan Sheet" June 16, 2008). For the April-June period, the firm reported flat net income due to higher costs despite a 21.9 percent increase in net sales to $651.7 million (2"The Tan Sheet" Aug. 17, 2009)