Alberto-Culver Spins Our Way: Fool by Numbers

On Jan. 26, 2007, Alberto-Culver (NYSE: ACV) released first-quarter earnings for the period ended Dec. 31, 2006.

• The company's results show the effect of its restructuring. It recently separated its consumer-products business from the beauty supply distribution business, creating two separate, publicly traded companies, Alberto-Culver and Sally Beauty Holdings (NYSE: SBH).
  
  
• As a result of this separation, the shareholders will receive one share of common stock of both the companies, and a special cash dividend of $25 per share.
  
  
• The company's top-line growth was driven by strong demand for many of its brands, especially Nexxus and TRESemme.
  
  
• The board has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.055 per share.
  
  
• Alberto-Culver is currently rated a two-star stock by the Motley Fool CAPS community. To add your own opinion to the database, join the service for free today!

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Sales	$351.1	$311.9	12.6%
Net Profit*	$0	$14.4	(100.0%)
EPS	$0	$0.16	N/A
Diluted Shares	95.7	92.5	3.5%

*Excludes income from discontinued operations

Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change*
Gross Margin	51.5%	51.6%	(0.1)
Operating Margin	(0.5%)	6.6%	(7.0)
Net Margin	0%	4.6%	(4.6)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$244.5	$177.6	37.7%
Accounts Rec.	$239.5	$277.1	(13.6%)
Inventory	$201.9	$716.6	(71.8%)

Liabilities	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Long-Term Debt	$122.0	$124.3	(1.8%)

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

Alberto-Culver's cash is MIA!

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

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Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean.

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