Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2012 increased by 15.5% to $168.5 million, compared with $145.9 million in the prior-year period. The growth in net sales was driven by increases in both the Company?s Asia Pacific and North America/Europe regions. Favorable changes in currency exchange rates contributed approximately $3.0 million to the top line for the quarter.
Net earnings for the fourth quarter increased to $18.4 million, an improvement of 40.2%, compared with the prior-year period. This increase was due primarily to higher net sales and lower relative Associate incentive expense for the quarter, and was partially offset by lower gross margins. Earnings per share for the quarter increased by 46.0% to $1.27, compared with $0.87 in the fourth quarter of the prior year. This improvement in earnings per share can be attributed to higher net earnings and a lower number of diluted shares outstanding, which resulted from the Company?s share repurchases over the last 12 months. Total diluted common shares outstanding as of December 29, 2012 were 14,471,000 compared with 15,177,000 as of December 31, 2011.
The Company?s Chief Executive Officer, Dave Wentz, said, ?USANA?s results in the fourth quarter were once again exceptional and cap off a year during which we produced record top and bottom-line results every quarter. Additionally, 2012 marks our tenth consecutive year of record sales. We believe that our strong operating results are due to the successful execution of our 2012 strategies. These strategies included our worldwide personalization initiative, our effort in North America to regain growth through strengthening our Associate sales force and our expansion in Greater China through the consistent training of our Associates in China on the Company?s product and the implementation of a compensation plan that is specific to that market.?
2012 Results
For the year ended December 29, 2012, net sales increased by 11.5% to $648.7 million, compared with $581.9 million in the prior year. Net sales growth was driven by increases in both Asia Pacific and North America/Europe regions. Changes in currency exchange rates did not have a meaningful impact on sales for the year as a whole.
Net earnings for the year ended December 29, 2012 increased by 30.9% to $66.4 million, or $4.45 per share, compared with $3.26 per share in the prior year. The increase in net earnings was due primarily to higher net sales, lower relative Associate incentive expense, and a lower effective tax rate of 32.5% for the full year.
Cash generated from operations totaled $92.8 million for the year ended December 29, 2012. The Company repurchased 1.6 million shares in 2012 for a total investment of $68.3 million. The Company ended the year debt free with a remaining share repurchase authorization of approximately $32 million.
?USANA?s performance in 2012 was excellent and we look forward to executing our 2013 growth strategy,? concluded Mr. Wentz. ?Our primary objective in 2013 will be to grow our active customer counts in each of our regions. To achieve this objective, we have a number of initiatives planned at both the individual market and regional level. In certain of our mature markets, for example, we will execute a pricing initiative that is designed to make it easier for our Associate sales force to bring new customers into the business. This initiative will likely result in some short-term pressure on our top and bottom-line results in these markets, but should also create much greater potential for long-term customer growth. At the regional level, we will continue to execute our North America and Greater China growth strategies and will also expand our personalization initiative worldwide. With the successful execution of these strategies, I expect 2013 to be another record year for USANA.?
