RYE, N.Y. (AP) - Jarden Corp., an appliance and consumer products company, on Tuesday said second-quarter profit soared as acquisitions of two sporting goods companies boosted sales.

For the three months ended June 30, profit more than doubled to $43 million, or 56 cents per share, from $16.7 million, or 23 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding reorganization and costs to integrate acquisitions, adjusted profit rose to $54.8 million, or 72 cents per share, from $44.5 million, or 62 cents per share, a year ago.

Sales rose 30 percent to $1.4 billion from $1.1 billion a year earlier. Net sales for the company’s Outdoor Solutions business, which includes K2, Coleman and Pure Fishing, jumped 69.9% to $708.6 million from $417.1 million last year due to the acquisition of K2 and Pure Fishing. Operating income for the division grew 132% to $74.8 million from $32.2 million. On a pro forma basis, net sales for the division increased only slightly from $707.6 million for the year-ago quarter.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected, on average, 64 cents in earnings and sales of $1.38 billion.

The company said sales were helped by last year’s acquisitions of Pure Fishing Inc. and outdoor sporting goods company K2 Inc.

“Jarden posted an outstanding second quarter in a difficult macro economic environment,” said Martin E. Franklin, chairman and CEO of Jarden Corporation. “By any key measure, whether organic sales growth, gross margin expansion, free cash flow, working capital improvements, liquidity and positive momentum, we achieved our macro goals. It was particularly satisfying to deliver organic sales growth in each of our primary business segments and we anticipate continuing to grow sales organically in the second half of 2008. The defensive nature of our diversified business model is proving that market leading brands coupled with innovative, value driven products can win even in this very tough economy.”

Mr. Franklin continued, “We are focused on continuing to execute well in the back half of the year, without cutting back on our investment spend on new product development and marketing that will help drive our success in future years. While we are not immune to the significant headwinds of rising costs and consumer softness affecting many companies in the consumer space, our goal is to take full advantage of the current turmoil to consolidate our leadership positions in the niche markets we serve and reinforce the relevancy of our brands and products to our customers.”

Jarden shares rose 70 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $22.20 in morning trading.

Tags: financials, jarden, k2

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