Cosmetic and fragrance company Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) released first-quarter 2014 earnings this morning that saw a decline in net revenues, but solid growth in emerging markets. Net revenues of $1,178.2 million decreased 2.9 percent relative to Q1 of 2013. Adjusted operating income of $186.1 million decreased from $203.0 million in the same quarter last year. Adjusted net income of $108.3 million decreased from $117.8 million and adjusted earnings per diluted share decreased to $0.28 from $0.30 in the prior-year period. Net cash provided by operating activities increased to $101.2 million from a use of $21.8 million in the prior-year period. Net debt decreased by $29.9 million to $1,679.9 million from $1,709.8 million in comparison to the first-quarter of 2013 and free cash flow increased by $117.4 million to $35.6 million in the quarter, compared to $81.8 million in the previous year.

Michele Scannavini, CEO of Coty Inc., said, “In the first quarter we faced a significant market slowdown in the fragrance and nail categories, particularly in the U.S. This triggered heavy trade destocking and a slower order pace that meaningfully affected our U.S. mass market and overall business. On the other hand, we are very pleased with our growth in the prestige channel and in the emerging markets, areas we had targeted for accelerated development.”

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO) reported third-quarter 2013 sales increase of 22.5 percent to $878.5 million, compared to $717.3 million in last year’s third-quarter. Net income for the quarter was $33.9 million, or $0.16 per diluted share compared to $35.2 million, or $0.17 per diluted share in Q3 of fiscal 2012. Gross margin of 46.7 percent was flat when compared to the third-quarter of 2012. Unfortunately, a solid performance in the company’s direct-store-delivery segment was offset by greater marketing expenses, margin pressure in the company’s warehouse segment, and added infrastructure to sustain sales growth. The results came in below Street estimates of $0.21 per share for the quarter.

President and CEO Allen Shiver said, “We achieved another quarter of robust sales growth as our team capitalized on opportunities presented by the marketplace and our recent acquisitions. The DSD segment achieved exceptional sales growth for our fresh breads, buns, rolls, and snack cakes and delivered operating earnings in line with our expectations.  In the warehouse segment, our cake business fell slightly short of expectations. Overall earnings were impacted primarily by the warehouse frozen foodservice business, which experienced margin erosion. We are taking action to improve margins in that portion of our business.”

Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET) this morning reported diluted earnings per share for the third-quarter of 2013 of $0.09 as compared to $0.13 for the same period in 2012. The company recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $21.2 million, $13.0 million after-tax or $0.25 per diluted share. Pre-tax income from continuing operations was $26.6 million, resulting in an adjusted pre-tax margin from continuing operations of 7.9 percent. Operating revenues totaled $338.6 million, an increase of 0.4 percent, compared to $337.4 million for Q3 of 2012. In October the company announced that it was divesting its Frontier business in a sale to Indigo Partners LLC.

The sale of Frontier will allow our management team to re-focus on our core business,” said Republic Airways Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Bryan Bedford. “We continue to be excited about the growth opportunities for our fixed-fee business and are focused on providing safe, reliable and low-cost solutions to each of our airline partner brands, including American Eagle, Delta Connection, United Express and US Airways Express,” said Bedford.

Disclosure: Author represents that he has no position in any stocks mentioned in this article at the time this article was submitted.