Regis Posts 4Q Loss Due To Big One-time Write-down

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Hair care company Regis Corp. on Thursday posted a loss in the fourth quarter due primarily to a write-down in the value of a stake in the Europe-based salon operator Provalliance.

It shares still jumped as its adjusted earnings topped Wall Street expectations.

Minneapolis-based Regis lost $4.6 million, or 11 cents per share, in the three months that ended in June. A year earlier, it had a profit of $23.1 million, or 54 cents per share.

Excluding the write-down and other one-time costs, Regis earned 59 cents per share, beating a 46 cent per share prediction of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

The Provalliance write-down dragged down profit by $27.8 million, or 65 cents per share.

Revenue fell 2 percent to $624.7 million from $640.5 million. Analysts had expected $615.1 million.

For the full year, Regis lost $124.5 million, or $2.89 per share, compared to a profit of $85.2 million, or $1.95 per share profit, in 2008. Annual revenue fell 2 percent to $2.43 billion from $2.48 billion.

Regis shares rose $1.18, or 8 percent, to $15.41 in midmorning trading.