New products drove double-digit gains for Monster Beverage Corp. during the company’s first quarter. Citing Nielsen data, the beverage maker said energy drink sales have recovered to high single-digit growth, and Monster continues to outpace the category and its competitors in the United States.
“New additions to the Monster family that were introduced during 2013 are continuing to gain market share of contributing positively to the overall increase in the company's sales,” said Rodney Sacks, chairman and chief executive officer, during a May 8 call with financial analysts to discuss first-quarter earnings.
With new strawberry and peanut butter cup flavors launching this year, the Muscle Monster line of protein drinks continues to gain traction, Mr. Sacks said. The recently added Ultra line of zero-calorie energy drinks and the company’s original Monster Energy beverage also showed gains.
New additions to the Monster family are planned for later in the year. Monster recently introduced a new Punch Monster line of energy drinks by converting its existing Dub Edition products with new can graphics and flavors.
“We believe that our recently launched new Punch Monster line will appeal to a broader consumer demographic than the Dub Edition and will be positively received by distributors and consumers in 2014,” Mr. Sacks said.
For the quarter ended March 31, net income increased to $95,250,000, equal to 57c per share on the common stock, up 50% from $63,496,000, or 38c per share, in the prior-year period. Costs related to regulatory matters and litigation related to the advertising of energy drinks continued to weigh on Monster’s results.
Net sales totaled $536,129,000, up 11% from $484,223,000.
