Alberto Culver Company, a manufacturer and marketer of beauty care brands including TRESemme, Alberto VO5, Nexxus, St. Ives, Simple and Noxzema, has announced results for its fiscal year 2010 second quarter and first half ended March 31, 2010.

The company reports:

• Net sales for the second quarter increased 11.8% to $384.8 million compared to $344.3 million in the prior year quarter. On an organic basis, which excludes the effect of foreign currency fluctuations and acquisitions and divestitures, sales increased 1.2% in the current quarter.

• Excluding restructuring and discrete items, diluted earnings per share from continuing operations increased 10.7% to 31 cents compared to 28 cents in the prior year quarter. Second quarter growth was tempered by a charge of approximately three cents per share related to the voluntary withdrawal of select SKU’s in the company’s relaxer kit business.

• Net sales for the first half of fiscal year 2010 increased 7.3% to $747.8 million compared to $697.2 million in the first half of the prior year. On an organic basis, which excludes the effect of foreign currency fluctuations and acquisitions and divestitures, sales increased 0.6% in the current year first half.

V. James Marino, Alberto Culver’s president and CEO, comments: “The strength of our brands, led by TRESemme, has enabled us to continue to show positive momentum and generate especially strong growth in our international markets. This comes in the face of a sluggish global hair care category and the impact on our U.S. business from the manufacturing and supply chain issues that we discussed on our last earnings call. While we have made solid progress in restoring customer service levels, particularly in March, we expect some of the disruptions to continue into the current quarter.”

In the U.S., despite strong growth on TRESemme, reported sales declined 1.7%, largely due to lower than normal customer service levels as a result of the company’s manufacturing, supply chain and systems disruptions. International sales on a reported basis increased 38.7% (the effect of foreign currency fluctuations as well as acquisitions and divestitures accounted for approximately 31.7% of the growth) behind strong TRESemme growth.

Advertising and other marketing investments in the second quarter increased nearly 21% to $69.4 million compared to $57.6 million in the prior year quarter, partially due to foreign currency fluctuations (4.1%) and the acquisition of Simple (6.0%), but also by strong double-digit increases on TRESemme, including investments behind new product initiatives and geographic expansion. Marino adds, “During the second quarter our investments in TRESemme helped to generate strong growth in the U.S. and internationally.”