Although taxes helped drive profits down, Helen of Troy reported record net operating income and sales for the first quarter ended May 31. The company also announced that it had revised full-year earnings guidance.

Operating income for the fiscal first quarter was up 1.6% to $31.1 million. A tax increase from $1.6 million to $4.4 million hit profits. Helen of Troy attributed the bigger tax bill to an increase in the proportion of taxable income earned in higher rate jurisdictions, mostly due to the acquisition of Kaz and PUR.

Net income for the first quarter came in at $23.5 million versus $24.6 million in the year-earlier period. The company posted net earnings per share of 74 cents in this year’s quarter versus 78 cents in last year’s period.

Fiscal first quarter net sales revenue increased 10.6% to $300.2 million versus the the prior year period. First quarter net sales revenue in the Housewares segment increased 13.8% to $60.2 million while those in the Personal Care business decreased by 4.2% to $117.6 million and those in Healthcare/Home Environment category increased 27.8% to $122.4 million.

"Similar to other global consumer products companies, we faced many challenges in light of continuing consumer uncertainty and global economic problems,” said Gerald Rubin, Helen of Troy chairman, president and CEO in commenting on the company's first quarter results. “We are pleased that we were able to achieve growth in net sales revenue, operating income and EBITDA without share-based compensation in a challenging retail sales environment. As a company, we continue to have a very strong balance sheet and generate a significant amount of cash, which can be used to further innovate our businesses and make future acquisitions. Our first quarter performance reflects record net sales revenue and operating income, and we expect to achieve record net sales revenue and earnings per fully diluted share for fiscal year 2013. However, based on our results for the first quarter and our outlook for a continuingly challenging retail sales environment, we are adjusting our expectations for the full fiscal year.  While we still expect net sales revenue for fiscal year 2013 to be in the range of $1.3 billion to $1.325 billion, we now expect earnings per fully diluted share to be in the range of $3.70 to $3.80 for fiscal year 2013 compared to our previous guidance of $3.80 to $3.90."