Physicians Formula Shares Tank on Loss

Physicians Formula(FACE Quote) swung to a loss in the first quarter, nearly halving shares in morning trading -- and there could be more bad news on the horizon as one of its biggest retailer plans to discontinue products.

Shares massively tanked by 47% to $1.88 in morning trading, as the company recorded a loss of $1.7 million or 13 cents a share, from a profit of $5 million, or 36 cents, in the year-ago period.

Sales fell 53% to $20.2 million from $42.7 million last year, hurt by tighter inventory controls and consumers paring down spending.

In April, one of the company's largest retailers -- which accounted for 16% of gross sales for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008 -- said it would discontinue selling products in 2010. The discontinuation will begin negatively impacting sales in the second quarter of 2009, as the retailer has already begun reducing its inventory levels of products.

Rivals Estee Lauder(EL Quote), Revlon(REV Quote) and Bare Escentuals(BARE Quote) all beat expectations, while Avon Products actually missed targets.