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"We have high expectations for the year and our first-quarter resultsserve as an important milestone in achieving our 2008 targets for revenuegrowth, operating income and earnings per share," said Truman Hunt, presidentand chief executive officer. "I am particularly pleased with our efforts toimprove profitability, which resulted in a 9.2 percent operating margincompared to 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2007, putting us on track toreach our 10.5 percent operating margin goal for the year.
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"It's also encouraging to see good results in both our nutrition andpersonal care brands with particularly strong demand for our Galvanic SpaSystem II and Tru Face Essence skin treatment products. We continued to seestrong results in South Korea, the United States, Europe, Hong Kong andSoutheast Asia, which offset a decline in Japan. The positive first quarterwas also highlighted by a successful distributor convention in South Korea. Welook forward to similar conventions in Japan and the Greater China regionduring the second quarter," said Hunt.
Regional Results
North Asia. First-quarter revenue in North Asia was $149.4 million,compared to $140.3 million for the same period in 2007, representing 6 percentgrowth. Regional results were positively impacted approximately 9 percent dueto foreign currency fluctuations. Local-currency revenue in Japan was down10 percent year-over-year, while South Korea's continued momentum drove alocal currency revenue gain of 24 percent. The number of executivedistributors in the region was down 2 percent while the number of activedistributors was slightly higher than the prior year.
Greater China. Revenue in Greater China was $49.9 million for the firstquarter compared to $49.0 million in the prior-year period and was positivelyimpacted approximately 5 percent from foreign currency fluctuations. Hong Konggenerated local currency revenue growth of 11 percent while Taiwan was down2 percent and Mainland China was down 12 percent. The executive distributorcount in the region was down 5 percent compared to the first quarter of 2007,while the number of active distributors decreased 11 percent.
Americas. Revenue in the Americas was $50.4 million, a 19 percent increaseover the prior-year period. In the United States, revenue improved 18 percentwhile Canada and Latin America both increased approximately 22 percent.Executive and active distributor counts in the region improved 7 percent and9 percent, respectively, over prior-year results.
South Asia/Pacific. Revenue in South Asia/Pacific was $25.5 millioncompared to $23.6 million in the prior year. This improvement was driven by a9 percent positive impact from foreign currency fluctuations and steadyresults in most markets. The region's first-quarter executive count improved1 percent while active distributors decreased 10 percent, compared to the sameperiod in 2007.
Europe. Revenue from Europe was $22.8 million, a 23 percent improvementover the prior-year period. The region's results benefited from strong growthin Eastern Europe and were positively impacted approximately 12 percent byforeign currency fluctuations. Executive and activ
