The head of Libbey Inc. said Wednesday when the company’s 2015 earnings were released that the Toledo manufacturer of stemware and table glassware needs to develop new products.
Bill Foley, who became Libbey’s chairman and chief executive in January, told industry analysts on a conference call that the company this year needs to strengthen its ability to develop new products, get closer to its customers, and simplify its business.
“We’re not as innovative as we need to be,” he said.
Last year, Libbey introduced some new products: the Perfect Signature and Master Reserve glassware lines and Premium Plastic drinkware. But, Mr. Foley said, the glassware maker needs to be doing much more as trends change.
“On the shelves today some of the products there have been there for 15 years or more,” he said. “They don’t reflect how millennials shop or live. That segment views life differently and we need to create products that respond to their choices.”
The CEO said such products might be a combination of silicone and glass for thermal resistance, or tempered products for better cookware, or perhaps some combination of plastic and glass or stainless steel and glass.
Libbey could easily make insulated mugs or glassware, items popular with millennials, he said. But, “we aren’t in that business,” he added.
“We need to play in that market through innovation. The question is how can we use our marketing and innovation to get it to retail?”
For its earnings, Libbey said its profits last year rose substantially above the previous year’s earnings as a result of a one-time tax benefit in 2015 and a negative charge that hampered the previous year’s earnings.
The company posted a profit of $66.3 million, or $2.99 a share, last year, which compared with $4.9 million, or 22 cents a share, in 2014.
Libbey said the 2015 profit benefited from the reversal of nearly all of a remaining tax valuation allowance on deferred tax assets of $43.8 million. In 2014, the profit was negatively affected by a $47.2 million charge for the retirement of debt.
The company said revenues last year totaled $822 million, down from $852 million the year before.
For the fourth quarter, Libbey’s profit was $32.1 million, or $1.45 a share, up 63 percent from $19.7 million, or 88 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Fourth quarter revenues were $219.1 million, down from $231.4 million a year earlier.
Libbey’s earnings beat Wall Street estimates of $2.15 a share for the year and 41 cents a share for the quarter, according to Zack’s Investment Research. Its shares closed up 16 cents Wednesday to finish at $18.20 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.
First Published February 25, 2016, 5:00 a.m.
