Aug. 7--Hansen Natural Corp. continues to buck the trend of a weak consumer market for beverages by racking up impressive sales and earnings, mostly due to its Monster line of energy drinks.

The Corona-based company said Thursday it made record sales and profits for the quarter that ended June 30. Hansen earned $57.3 million in the second quarter, or 60 cents per share, 14 percent higher than the same three months of 2008. Sales of $345.8 million were 6.7 higher than the second quarter of 2008.

The record numbers came in spite of "softness" in the market for beverages in general in North America, especially energy drinks, Rodney Sacks, chairman and chief executive officer said during a conference call with analysts Thursday.

Recent sales of all energy drinks have declined 1.7 percent, but Hansen recently added another key outlet for its Monster products. The drinks will soon be sold at the 3,000 locations of CKE Restaurants Inc., which include Carl's Jr. outlets.

Monster increased its market share slightly less than 1 percent, Sacks told analysts. Part of the increase was at the expense of industry leader Red Bull, and brands such as Rock Star and Pepsico-owned Amp slipped even further.

Hansen entered into a distribution deal with Coca-Cola Enterprises late last year, and for a few months that arrangement had some transitional hiccups. Sacks said now sales of the products distributed by Coca-Cola are doing better than before the deal.

Hansen products are also delivered to bars by Anheuser-Busch.

"We believe we will continue to benefit from alignment with two strong distribution systems in the U.S.," Sacks said.

The CKE deal, which was not reflected in this quarter's earnings, came after rumors that Hansen was in talks with McDonald's, which Sacks downplayed Thursday. But he said fast food should not be ignored.

"We're obviously looking at this channel as an opportunity to expand," he said. "There's a lot of channels in the United States where we've hardly scratched the surface. These are sales we wouldn't have gotten. They would have gone to fountain drinks."

John Sicher, editor and publisher of trade publication Beverage Digest, called the CKE deal "an excellent move" for Hansen. He also said it was a good move for CKE, despite the fact that fountain drinks are very profitable items for fast-food restaurants.

"It enables (Hansen) to sell more product, but it also gives them more visibility," Sicher said. "For CKE, the issue is consumers want more choice, and Monster is an excellent brand with a great following."

Hansen's stock closed at $30.68, down $1.12, in Nasdaq Stock Exchange Trading. After the firm's earnings were released, the stock rose more than $2.50 in after-hours trading.

Reach Jack Katzanek at 951 368-9553 or at jkatzanek@PE.com

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