UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

 

 

Form 10-K

 

 

 

 

FOR ANNUAL AND TRANSITION REPORTS

PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

 

Commission file number: 1-32381

 

 

 

 

HERBALIFE LTD.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

 

(213) 745-0500
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.  Yes þ     No o

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.  Yes o     No þ

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes þ     No o

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes o     No o

 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229,405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  o

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

 

Indicate by check mark whether registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).  Yes o     No þ

 

There were 60,291,306 common shares outstanding as of February 18, 2010. The aggregate market value of the Registrant’s common shares held by non-affiliates was approximately $1,732 million as of June 30, 2009, based upon the last reported sales price on the New York Stock Exchange on that date of $31.54.

 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

 

Portions of the registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission no later than 120 days after the end of the Registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2009, are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

This document contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical fact are “forward-looking statements” for purposes of federal and state securities laws, including any projections of earnings, revenue or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning proposed new services or developments; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; any statements of belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Forward-looking statements may include the words “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “intend,” “continue,” “believe,” “expect” or “anticipate” and any other similar words.

 

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in any of our forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results could differ materially from those projected or assumed in any of our forward-looking statements. Our future financial condition and results of operations, as well as any forward-looking statements, are subject to change and to inherent risks and uncertainties, such as those disclosed or incorporated by reference in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Important factors that could cause our actual results, performance and achievements, or industry results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in our forward-looking statements include, among others, the following:

 

 

 

Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements are set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including under the heading “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and in our Consolidated Financial Statements and the related Notes.

 

Forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K speak only as of the date hereof, and forward-looking statements in documents attached that are incorporated by reference speak only as of the date of those documents. We do not undertake any obligation to update or release any revisions to any forward-looking statement or to report any events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.

 

The Company

 

Unless otherwise noted, the terms “we,” “our,” “us,” “Company” and “Herbalife” refer to Herbalife Ltd. and its subsidiaries. Herbalife is a holding company, with substantially all of its assets consisting of the capital stock of its indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary, Herbalife International.

 

 

GENERAL

 

We are a global network marketing company that sells weight management, nutritional supplement, energy, sports & fitness products and personal care products. We were founded in 1980 by Mark Hughes. We pursue our mission of “changing people’s lives” by providing a financially rewarding business opportunity to distributors and quality products to distributors and customers who seek a healthy lifestyle. We are one of the largest network marketing companies in the world with net sales of approximately $2.3 billion for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009. We sell our products in 72 countries through a network of approximately 2.0 million independent distributors. In China, in order to comply with local laws and regulations, we sell our products through retail stores, sales representatives, sales employees and licensed business providers. Licensed business providers are independent service providers that operate their own business under Chinese law as well as the conditions set forth by us to sell products and provide services to our customers. We believe the quality of our products and the effectiveness of our distribution network, coupled with geographic expansion, have been the primary reasons for our success throughout our 30-year operating history.

 

We offer science-based products in four principal categories: weight management, targeted nutrition, energy, sports & fitness and Outer Nutrition. The weight management product portfolio includes meal replacement shakes, weight-loss enhancers, appetite suppressors and a variety of healthy snacks. Our collection of targeted nutrition products includes dietary supplements which contain vitamins, minerals and natural ingredients that support total well-being and long-term good health. The energy, sports & fitness category includes energy and isotonic drinks to support a healthy active lifestyle. Our Outer Nutrition products include skin cleansers, moisturizers and lotions with antioxidants, as well as anti-aging products. Weight management, targeted nutrition, energy, sports & fitness and Outer Nutrition accounted for 63.0%, 21.2%, 4.3% and 5.5% of our net sales in fiscal year 2009, respectively.

 

We believe that the direct-selling channel is ideally suited to marketing our products because sales of weight management, nutrition and personal care products are strengthened by ongoing personal contact between retail

consumers and distributors. This personal contact may enhance consumers’ nutritional and health education as well as motivate consumers to begin and maintain wellness and weight management programs. In addition, many of our distributors use our products themselves, and can therefore provide first-hand testimonials of the effectiveness of our products to consumers, which often serve as a powerful sales tool.

 

We are focused on building and maintaining our distributor network by offering financially rewarding and flexible career opportunities through sales of quality, innovative and efficacious products to health conscious consumers. We believe the income opportunity provided by our network marketing program appeals to a broad cross-section of people throughout the world, particularly those seeking to supplement family income, start a home business or pursue entrepreneurial, full and part-time, employment opportunities. Our distributors, who are independent contractors, can profit from selling our products and can also earn royalties and bonuses on sales made by the other distributors whom they recruit to join their sales organizations.

 

We enable distributors to maximize their potential by providing a broad array of motivational, educational and support services. We motivate our distributors through our performance-based compensation plan, individual recognition, reward programs and promotions, and participation in local, national and international Company-sponsored sales events such as Extravaganzas. We are committed to providing professionally designed educational training materials that our distributors can use to enhance recruitment and maximize their sales. We and our distributor leadership conduct thousands of training sessions each year throughout the world to educate and motivate our distributors. These training events teach our distributors not only how to develop invaluable business-building and leadership skills, but also how to differentiate our products to consumers. Our corporate-sponsored training events provide a forum for distributors, who otherwise operate independently, to share ideas with us and each other. In addition, we operate an Internet-based Herbalife Broadcasting Network, which delivers worldwide, educational, motivational and inspirational content, including addresses from our Chief Executive Officer, to our distributors. We further aid our distributors by generating additional demand for our products through traditional marketing and public relations activities, such as television ads, sporting event sponsorships and endorsements.

 

Our Competitive Strengths

 

We believe that our success stems from our ability to motivate our distributor network through our marketing plan and provide distributors with a unique go to market strategy that supports sustainable daily consumption of our innovative and efficacious products that appeal to consumer preferences for healthy lifestyles. We have been able to achieve sustained and profitable growth by capitalizing on the following competitive strengths:

 

Distributor Base

 

As of December 31, 2009, we had approximately 2.0 million distributors, which includes approximately 296,000 China sales representatives and employees. Collectively, we refer to this group as “distributors.” Approximately 481,000 of our 2.0 million distributors have become sales leaders, which are comprised of approximately 431,000 sales leaders in the 71 countries where we use our traditional marketing plan and approximately 50,000 China sales employees and licensed business providers operating under our China marketing plan. Collectively, we refer to this group as “sales leaders.” We believe that the distributors who have not attained the sales leader level can be segmented into three general categories based on their product order patterns: discount buyers, small retailers and potential sales leaders. We define discount buyers as customers who have signed up as distributors to enjoy a discount on their purchases; small retailers as product users and sales people who generate modest sales to friends and family; and potential sales leaders as distributors who are proactively developing a business with the intention of qualifying to become a sales leader. In 2009, excluding China, distributor orders for these three general categories were approximately 47%, 36% and 17%, respectively. For the approximately 481,000 sales leaders in our organization, the marketing plan encourages active participation in the business including building down-line sales organizations of their own, which can serve to increase their income and increase our product sales. Sales leaders contribute significantly to our sales.

Product Portfolio

 

We are committed to building distributor, customer and brand loyalty by providing a diverse portfolio of health-oriented and wellness products. The breadth of our product offerings enables our distributors to sell a comprehensive package of products designed to simplify weight management and nutrition. We continue to introduce new products annually and rigorously review, and if necessary, improve our product formulations, based upon developments in nutrition science. We believe that the longevity and variety in our product portfolio significantly enhance our distributors’ abilities to build their businesses.

 

Nutrition Science-Based Product Development

 

We continue to emphasize and make investments in science-based product development in the fields of weight management, nutrition and personal care. We have a growing internal team of scientists dedicated to continually evaluating opportunities to enhance our existing products and to develop new science-based products. These product development efforts are reviewed by prominent doctors and world-renowned scientists who constitute our Scientific Advisory Board and Nutrition Advisory Board. In addition, we have provided donations to assist in the establishment of the Mark Hughes Cellular and Molecular Lab at UCLA, or the UCLA Lab, and we continue to rely on their expertise. We believe that the UCLA Lab provides opportunities for Herbalife to access cutting-edge science in botanical, herbal and nutrition research. In 2007, Herbalife awarded a research grant to the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, or NCNPR. The grant will allow NCNPR scientists to identify and study the biologically active chemicals found in botanicals, which may be used in the development of future dietary supplements and skin care products for Herbalife.

 

Scalable Business Model

 

Our business model enables us to grow our business with only moderate investment in our infrastructure and other fixed costs. With the exception of our China business, we require no Company-employed sales force to market and sell our products. We incur no direct incremental cost to add a new distributor in our existing markets, and our distributor compensation varies directly with sales. In addition, our distributors bear the majority of our consumer marketing expenses, and sales leaders sponsor and coordinate a large share of distributor recruiting and training initiatives. Furthermore, we can readily increase production and distribution of our products as a result of our numerous third party manufacturing relationships as well as our global footprint of in-house distribution centers.

 

Geographic Diversification

 

We have a proven ability to establish our network marketing organization in new markets. Since our founding 30 years ago, we have expanded our presence into 72 countries. While sales within our local markets may fluctuate due to economic, market and regulatory conditions, competitive pressures, political and social instability or for Company-specific reasons, we believe that our geographic diversity mitigates our financial exposure to any particular market. We opened two new markets during 2009 and our strategic plan includes a goal of opening 6 new markets during 2010.

 

Experienced Management Team

 

Our management team is led by Michael O. Johnson who became our Chief Executive Officer after spending 17 years with The Walt Disney Company, where he most recently served as President of Walt Disney International. In 2007, he was named our Chairman. Since joining our Company, Mr. Johnson has assembled a team of experienced executives, including Desmond Walsh, who began serving as President effective January 1, 2010 and previously served as our Company’s Executive Vice President, Worldwide Operations and Sales and formerly Senior Vice President of the commercial division of DMX Music; Richard Goudis, who began serving as Chief Operating Officer effective January 1, 2010 and previously served as our Company’s Chief Financial Officer and formerly Chief Operating Officer of Rexall Sundown, (a division of Royal Numico NV); John DeSimone, who began serving as Chief Financial Officer effective January 1, 2010 and previously served as our Company’s Senior Vice President — Finance and formerly Chief Financial Officer of Rexall Sundown; Brett R. Chapman, as General Counsel and formerly Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of The Walt Disney Company; and Steve

Henig, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer with responsibility for our product research and development, and formerly Senior Vice President of Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.

 

Our Business Strategy

 

We believe that our network marketing model is the most effective way to sell our products. Our objective is to increase the recruitment, retention, retailing and productivity of our distributor base by pursuing the following strategic initiatives:

 

Major Market Strategy

 

We look to optimize country operating models; further aligning resources to fuel growth in high potential markets, develop lower-cost models where appropriate and centralize key functions. Expanding in China represents a significant growth opportunity for us as we believe that China could become one of the largest direct-selling markets in the world over the next several years. To address this opportunity, we have assembled a management team with direct selling experience, secured a headquarters location in Shanghai, and expanded our manufacturing capacity in our Suzhou, China factory. In 2007, we received a direct selling license for the Jiangsu province. In the third quarter of 2008 we received five additional direct selling licenses. We also applied for five additional provincial licenses in September 2008 and received approval in early July 2009. In addition, during 2009, we expanded our operations into two new countries and in 2008, we opened five new countries. As part of our long term strategy, we expect to continue to identify and open untapped markets. Additionally, our strategy includes further penetrating our existing markets and globalizing distributor business methods which will improve the balance of retailing, retention and recruiting in major markets. The success of this approach has been validated by the improved market penetration in key markets such as Brazil, the United States, South Korea, Taiwan and Russia.

 

Product Strategy

 

We are committed to providing our distributors with unique, innovative products to help them increase sales and recruit new distributors. Our product development is focused on four principal categories: weight management; targeted nutrition; energy, sports & fitness and Outer Nutrition that capitalize on the mega trends of obesity and anti-aging. On an ongoing basis, we will augment our product portfolio with additional science-based products and, as appropriate, will bundle products addressing similar health concerns into packages and programs. We are establishing a core set of products that will be available in key markets around the world. We also introduced new upgraded formulations of existing products to continue to improve the efficacy and product differentiation of our product as compared to products that can be found on the retail shelf. To better support distributors, we will expand our product packaging to provide both individual serving sizes and larger sizes of our top selling products. Additionally, each year we plan to have “mega launches” of products and/or programs, coupled with our major events, to generate continued excitement among our distributors, to add to our core set of products and to support our distributor daily methods of operation, or DMOs. These “mega launches” will generally target specific market segments deemed strategic to us, such as the recent introduction of our powered fiber and aloe lines that support our focus on driving daily consumption. To augment the personal testimonials of our distributors and to provide them with independent validation of our product efficacy we successfully completed two sponsored clinical studies in 2008 and one sponsored clinical study in 2009 in addition to other clinical studies currently underway.

 

Distributor Strategy

 

We continue to increase our investment in events and promotions, both in absolute dollars and as a percent of net sales, as a catalyst to help our distributors improve the effectiveness and productivity of their businesses. We work with our distributor leaders to globalize best-practice business methods to enable our distributors to improve their penetration in existing markets. We refer to these business methods as DMOs and they include such methods as: Nutrition Clubs, Commercial Clubs, Central Clubs, Weight Loss Challenge, The Total Plan, Wellness Coach and Internet/Sampling. We also offer distributors BizWorks, a business system which assists our distributors in building their businesses more efficiently while better servicing their existing customers. And finally, to increase brand awareness among potential customers and distributors, we have entered into numerous marketing alliances around

the world, created “Team Herbalife” and rolled-out a style guide and brand asset library so that our distributors have access to the Herbalife brand logo for use in their marketing efforts.

 

Infrastructure Strategy

 

In 2003, we embarked upon a strategic initiative to significantly upgrade our technology infrastructure throughout the world. We are implementing an Oracle enterprise-wide technology solution, with a scalable and stable open architecture platform, to enhance our efficiency and productivity as well as that of our distributors. In addition, we are upgrading our Internet-based marketing and distributor services platform with tools such as BizWorks, BizWorks 2.0 and MyHerbalife.com and we have invested in business intelligence tools to enable better analysis of our business. In 2008, we successfully completed upgrades for the software application tier of the Oracle platform with implementation across multiple regions. In 2009, we completed the roll out of the Oracle platform in all of our regions, except China. Additionally, in August 2009, we purchased certain assets of Micelle Laboratories, Inc., a Lake Forest, California contract manufacturer of food and nutritional supplements. We purchased these assets in order to strengthen our global manufacturing capabilities. We continue to invest in our employees through a comprehensive and global organizational development program as well as a Wellness program which was initiated in the U.S. during 2008.

 

Product Overview

 

For 30 years, our products have been designed to help distributors and customers from around the world lose weight, improve their health and experience life-changing results. We have built our heritage on developing unique formulas that blend the best of nature with innovative techniques from nutrition science, appealing to the growing base of consumers seeking differentiated products and desiring a healthier lifestyle.

 

As of December 31, 2009, we marketed and sold 127 products encompassing over 3,600 SKUs through our distributors and currently have approximately 1,942 trademarks worldwide. We group our products into four primary categories: weight management, targeted nutrition, energy, sports & fitness and Outer Nutrition. Our products are often sold as part of a program, and therefore our portfolio is comprised of a series of related products designed to simplify weight management and nutrition for our consumers and maximize our distributors’ cross-selling opportunities. These programs target specific consumer market segments, such as women, men or children, as well as weight-management customers and individuals looking to enhance their overall well-being and support an active, healthy lifestyle.

 

The following table summarizes our products by product category.

 

Weight Management

 

Weight Management is our largest product category representing 63.0% of our net sales for the year 2009. Formula 1, our best-selling product, is a healthy meal with soy protein, essential vitamins, minerals, herbs and nutrients that is available in seven delicious flavors and can help support weight management. It has been part of our basic weight management program for 30 years and generated approximately 32% of our retail sales for the year 2009. Personalized Protein Powder is a soy and whey protein product developed to be added to Formula 1 to personalize a person’s daily protein intake to help achieve their desired weight and shape. Weight-loss enhancers, including Total Control^®, address specific challenges associated with dieting, such as lack of energy, hunger and food craving, fluid retention, decreased metabolism and digestive challenges, by building energy, boosting metabolism, curbing appetite and helping to promote weight loss. Healthy snacks are formulated to provide between-meal nutrition and satisfaction. In 2008, we introduced packettes in all 7 flavors in the U.S., as well as a packette variety pack to support dietary supplement, or DS sampling and lead generation efforts. We expanded the Formula 1 franchise by introducing F1 Express Healthy Meal Bar in EMEA in 2009. In the U.S., some key weight management products, Total Control, Snack Defense and Cell-U-Loss were upgraded with more modern formulations and stronger benefits.

 

Targeted Nutrition

 

We market numerous dietary and nutritional supplements designed to meet our customers’ specific nutritional needs. Each of these supplements contains quality herbs, vitamins, minerals and other natural ingredients and focuses on specific life stages of our customers, including women, men, children and those with health concerns, including heart health, healthy aging, digestive health, or immune solutions. Niteworks^® is a product developed in conjunction with Nobel Laureate in Medicine, Dr. Louis Ignarro, that supports energy, circulatory and vascular health and enhances blood flow to the heart, brain and other vital organs. Garden 7^® is designed to provide the phytonutrient benefits of seven servings of fruits and vegetables and has anti-oxidant and health-boosting properties. Best Defense^® is an effervescent drink that boosts immunity. In 2007, we introduced a new Kids Line including shakes and improved multivitamins which provide essential nutrition including protein, fiber and 100% of key nutrients to meet growing kids’ daily needs. In 2008, we re-launched the Digestive Line and introduced two new products — Herbal Aloe Powder (Mango Accent and Aloe Accent flavors) and Active Fiber Complex (Apple and Unflavored). In 2009, we further expanded our successful Aloe line by introducing a popular Mango flavored Aloe Concentrate while optimizing and reintroducing several of our Targeted Nutrition products in the U.S. such as Xtra-Cal Advanced, Joint Support Advanced, Tang Kuei Plus, Schizandra Plus and RoseGuard.

 

Energy, Sports & Fitness

 

We entered into the high growth energy drink category in 2005 with the introduction of Liftoff^®, an innovative, effervescent energy drink containing a proprietary blend of B-vitamins, guarana, ginseng, ginkgo and caffeine to increase energy and improve mental clarity for better performance throughout the day. In 2007, we launched H³O^tm Fitness Drink to provide rapid hydration, sustained muscle energy plus antioxidant protection for people living a healthy, active lifestyle. In 2008, we expanded our product offerings in the energy drink segment with the introduction of two new flavors of Liftoff — Tropical Fruit and Lemon Cola.

 

Outer Nutrition

 

Our Outer Nutrition products complement our weight management and targeted nutrition products and aim to improve the appearance of the body, skin and hair. These products include skin cleansers, toners, moisturizers and facial masks, shampoos and conditioners, body-wash items and a selection of fragrances for men and women. NouriFusion^® Multivitamin skin care products are formulated with antioxidant Vitamins A, C and E for a healthy, glowing complexion. In 2006, we launched a full line of anti-aging products as an extension of our successful Skin Activator^® product, an advanced face cream that contains a collagen-building Glucosamine Complex to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. In the past few years, we launched a number of regional products to address local market needs including a Soft Green Body Care line in Brazil in 2008, the Whitening Serum under the NouriFusion brand in the Asia Pacific region, and the Lively Fragrances perfume line in Brazil in 2009.

Literature, Promotional and Other Products

 

We also sell literature and promotional materials, including sales aids, informational audiotapes, videotapes, CDs and DVDs designed to support our distributors’ marketing efforts, as well as start-up kits called “International Business Packs” for new distributors. In 2006, we introduced BizWorks, a customizable retail website for our distributors to enhance the on-line experience and improve their productivity.

 

Product Development

 

We are committed to providing our distributors with unique, innovative science-based products to help them increase recruitment, retention and retailing. We believe this can be best accomplished in part by introducing new products and by upgrading, reformulating and repackaging existing product lines. Our internal team of scientists and product developers collaborate with our Nutrition Advisory Board and Scientific Advisory Board to formulate, review and evaluate new product ideas. Once a particular market opportunity has been identified, our scientists along with our marketing and sales teams work closely with distributors to effect a successful development and launch of the product. Our research and development is performed by in-house staff and outside consultants. For all periods presented, research and development costs were expensed as incurred and were not material.

 

A new product development process was deployed to accelerate the introduction of new products and to improve the launch of products. Cross-functional teams from Product Marketing, Product Development, Sciences, Licensing, Manufacturing and Finance were formed and assigned to major product initiatives.

 

The product development process is a stage-gate process based on “best in class” practices in our industry. The process consists of five stages: identification, feasibility assessment, development, launch and learn. The project teams obtain approvals from a corporate steering team comprised of key executives in the Company. The process defines each department’s roles and responsibilities and sets clear deliverables for each stage. It creates a succinct process from the beginning of the development cycle to the end.

 

New product ideas are generated and narrowed down to high potential ideas that fill our business needs and conform to our overall strategy. We test the most promising ideas with distributors and customers using a variety of qualitative and quantitative tools. This testing is followed by a feasibility assessment which includes a review of product and package prototypes, product positioning and messaging, process design, analysis of manufacturing issues and providing preliminary financial projections of product sales. The next stage is the development phase in which we finalize the formula, process, manufacturing strategy, product positioning, pricing, labeling and other related matters. The fourth stage is the launch phase in which we prepare promotional and sales materials, complete the supply chain plan, create product and financial forecasts, and complete other final preparations for launch. After the product is launched, we closely track sales performance and the lessons learned so we can update and improve the product development process. In addition, during the past three years, we have significantly increased our investment in clinical studies and in our science program to substantiate claims and efficacy of our products.

 

We reorganized our technical team in 2009 for greater efficiency in product development as well as to carry out related product development strategies both globally and regionally. During 2009, we also added new talents to our technical and scientific teams and additional resources to the Company’s Nutrition and Scientific Advisory Boards.

 

The Nutrition Advisory Board is headed by David Heber, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine and Public Health at the UCLA School of Medicine, Director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition and Director of the UCLA Center for Dietary Supplement Research in Botanicals. The Nutrition Advisory Board has 20 members from 17 countries. It is comprised of leading scientists and medical doctors who provide training on product usage and give health-news updates through Herbalife literature, the Internet and training events around the world. Our Scientific Advisory Board is chaired by Dr. Heber and has 10 members from 4 countries. Louis Ignarro, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology at the UCLA School of Medicine and Nobel Laureate in Medicine is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board.

 

We believe that it is important to maintain our relationships with members of our Nutrition Advisory Board and Scientific Advisory Board to recognize the time and effort that they expend on our behalf. Each member of our Nutrition Advisory Board other than Dr. Heber receives a monthly retainer of up to $5,000, plus up to $3,000 for every day that they appear at a non-southern California distributor event and up to $2,000 for every day that they

need to travel to such events. Members of our Scientific Advisory Board are compensated for their time and efforts in the following manner: (1) eight members are paid an annual retainer of $5,000 plus travel expenses, (2) Dr. Ignarro receives no direct compensation from us although we do pay a consulting firm, with which Dr. Ignarro is affiliated, a royalty on sales of Niteworks^®, certain “healthy heart” products, and other products that we may mutually designate in the future that are, in each case, sold with the aid of Dr. Ignarro’s consulting, promotional or endorsement services, with such amounts totaling $1.9 million, $2.1 million, and $1.9 million, in 2009, 2008, and 2007 respectively and (3) Dr. Heber generally, other than a one time option grant in 2005, receives no direct compensation from us although we do reimburse him for travel expenses and we do pay to a consulting firm, with which Dr. Heber is affiliated, a quarterly consulting fee of $75,000. During 2009, a total of $300,000 was paid to the consulting firm.

 

We also make contributions to the UCLA Lab. We have continually invested in this lab since 2002 with total donations of approximately $1.4 million which includes donations of lab equipment and software. UCLA agreed that the donations would be used for further research and education in the fields of weight management and botanical dietary supplements. In addition, we have made donations from time to time to UCLA to fund research and educational programs. While our direct relationship with UCLA involves clinical studies and research regarding botanical ingredients, we intend to take full advantage of the expertise at UCLA by committing to support research that will further our understanding of the benefits of phytochemicals.

 

In 2009, we acquired certain assets of Micelle Laboratories, a Lake Forest, California contract manufacturer of food and nutritional supplements. The acquisition allows us to strengthen our global manufacturing capabilities. Over the next year, we plan to increase plant capacity and capability to produce products for shipment throughout North America and several of our international markets.

 

In 2009, we focused our development efforts on strengthening our portfolio by optimizing certain key products in weight management and targeted nutrition segments to better meet the nutritional needs of our customers.

 

Regionally, our product development supported local needs for new Outer Nutrition offerings including Soft Green and Lively Fragrances lines in South America and NouriFusion Whitening products in Asia Pacific as well as further globalization of Heart Health, Digestive Health and single-serve Weight Management products including a new Healthy Meal Replacement Bar in EMEA.

 

We believe our focus on nutrition and botanical science and our efforts at combining our internal research and development efforts with the scientific expertise of our Scientific Advisory Board, the educational skills of the Nutrition Advisory Board and the resources of the UCLA Lab should result in meaningful product introductions and give our distributors and consumers increased confidence in our products.

 

Network Marketing Program

 

General

 

Our products are distributed through a global network marketing organization comprised of approximately 2.0 million independent distributors in 72 countries, including in China where, due to regulations, our sales are conducted through Company operated retail stores, sales representatives, sales employees and licensed business providers. In China, in the areas where we have a direct selling license, our representatives, licensed business providers and employees can sell Herbalife product outside the retail establishments. In addition to helping our distributors achieve physical health and wellness through use of our products, we offer our distributors, who are independent contractors, attractive income opportunities. Distributors may earn income on their own sales and can also earn royalties and bonuses on sales made by the distributors in their sales organizations. We believe that our products are particularly well-suited to the network marketing distribution channel because sales of weight management and health and wellness products are strengthened by ongoing personal contact and coaching between retail consumers and distributors. We believe our continued commitment to developing innovative, science-based products will enhance our ability to attract new distributors as well as increase the productivity and retention of existing distributors. Furthermore, our international sponsorship program, which permits distributors to sponsor distributors in other countries where we are licensed to do business and where we have obtained required product approvals, provides a significant advantage to our distributors in developing and growing their businesses. China has its own unique marketing program.

On July 18, 2002, we entered into an agreement with our distributors that no material changes adverse to the distributors will be made to our marketing plan without their consent and that we will continue to distribute Herbalife products exclusively through our independent distributors. We believe that this agreement has strengthened our relationship with our existing distributors, improved our ability to recruit new distributors and generally increased the long-term stability of our business.

 

Structure of the Network Marketing Program

 

To become a distributor in most markets, a person must be sponsored by an existing distributor and must purchase an International Business Pack. The International Business Pack, or IBP, is a distributor kit available in local languages. The product and literature contents in the kits vary slightly to meet individual market needs. An example is the large size U.S. IBP, which costs $87.95 and includes a canister of Formula 1 shake mix, two bottles of nutritional supplements, Herbal Concentrate (Tea), Liftoff^® (an energy drink), and Nourifusion^® (skin care) samples, along with a handy tote, booklets describing us, our compensation plan and rules of conduct, various training and promotional materials, distributor applications and a product catalog. The smaller U.S. version costs $54.95 and includes sample products, a handy tote, and essentially the same print and promotional materials as included in the larger kit version. To become a sales leader, or qualify for a higher level, including the Qualified Producer level introduced in October 2009, distributors must achieve specified volumes of product sales or earn certain amounts of royalty overrides during specified time periods and must re-qualify for the levels once each year. To attain sales leader status, a distributor generally must be responsible for sales of products representing at least 4,000 volume points in one month or 2,500 volume points in two consecutive months. An additional optional qualification, introduced globally in October 2009, allows for a distributor to achieve sales leader level by personally placing orders with Herbalife that accumulate to 5,000 Volume Points within 12 months (of which a minimum of 3 months is required). China has its own unique marketing program. Volume points are point values assigned to each of our products that are usually equal in all countries and are essentially based on the suggested retail price of U.S. products. Sales leaders may then attain higher levels, (consisting of the World Team, the Global Expansion Team, the Millionaire Team, the President’s Team, the Chairman’s Club and the Founders Circle) and earn increasing amounts of royalty overrides based on sales in their downline organizations and, for members of our Global Expansion Team and above, earn production bonuses on sales in their downline organizations.

 

The following table sets forth the number of our sales leaders and sales leader retention rates as of re-qualification period:

 

 

In February of each year, we remove from the rank of sales leader those individuals who did not satisfy the sales leader qualification requirements during the preceding twelve months. Distributors who meet the sales leader requirements at any time during the year are promoted to sales leader status at that time, including any sales leaders who were removed, but who subsequently re-qualified. For the latest twelve month re-qualification period ending January 2010, approximately 43% of our sales leaders re-qualified. Typically, distributors who purchase our product for personal consumption or for short term weight loss or income goals may stay with us for several months to one year while sales leaders who have committed time and effort to build a sales organization generally stay for

longer periods. We rely on certifications from the selling distributors as to the amount and source of product sales to other distributors which are not directly verifiable by us. For sales leaders to re-qualify and retain their distributor organization and associated earnings, they need to earn 4,000 volume points in one month or 2,500 volume points in each of two consecutive months. In order to increase retailing of our products, we have modified our re-qualification criteria to provide that any distributor that earns at least 4,000 volume points in any 12-month period can re-qualify as a sales leader and retain a discount of 50% from suggested retail prices, but will forfeit their distributor organization and associated earnings.

 

Distributor Earnings

 

Distributor earnings are derived from several sources. First, distributors may earn profits by purchasing our products at wholesale prices, which are discounted 25% to 50% from suggested retail prices depending on the distributors’ level within our distributor network, and selling our products to retail customers or to other distributors. Second, distributors who sponsor other distributors and establish their own sales organizations may earn (1) royalty overrides, up to 15% of product retail sales in the aggregate, (2) production bonuses, up to 7% of product retail sales in the aggregate and (3) the Mark Hughes bonus, up to 1% of product retail sales in the aggregate. Royalty overrides and bonuses together with the distributor allowances represent the potential earnings to distributors of up to approximately 73% of retail sales. Each distributor’s success is dependent on two primary factors: 1) the time, effort and commitment a distributor puts into his or her Herbalife business and 2) the product sales made by a distributor and his or her sales organization.

 

Distributors, with the exception of China, earn the right to receive royalty overrides upon attaining the level of sales leader and above, and production bonuses upon attaining the level of Global Expansion Team and above. Once a distributor becomes a sales leader, he or she has an incentive to qualify, by earning specified amounts of royalty overrides, as a member of the Global Expansion Team, the Millionaire Team or the President’s Team, and thereby receive production bonuses of up to 7%. We believe that the right of distributors to earn royalty overrides and production bonuses contributes significantly to our ability to retain our most productive distributors.

 

Many of our non-sales leader distributors join Herbalife to obtain a 25% discount on our products and become a discount consumer or have a part-time retail income goal in mind, and this retail income is not tracked by the Company.

 

Under the regulations published by the Chinese Government, direct selling companies are limited to the payment of gross compensation to direct sellers of up to a maximum 30% of the revenue they generate through their own sales of products to consumers. We have incurred and will continue to incur substantial ongoing additional costs relating to the inclusion in the China business model of Company operated retail stores, sales representatives, sales employees and licensed business providers and Company provided training and certification procedures for sales personnel, features not common elsewhere in our traditional business model.

 

Distributor Motivation and Training

 

We believe that motivation and training are key elements in distributor success and that we and our distributor sales leaders have established a consistent schedule of events to support these needs. We and our distributor leadership conduct thousands of training sessions annually on local, regional and global levels to educate and motivate our distributors. Every month, there are hundreds of one-day Success Training Seminars held throughout the world. Annually, in each major territory or region, there is a three-day World Team School that focuses on product and business development and is typically attended by 2,000 to 10,000 distributors. Additionally, once a year in each region, we host an Extravaganza at which our distributors from the region can come to learn about new products, expand their skills and celebrate their success. In 2009, we held Extravaganzas in key markets such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Korea, Russia, Italy, Czech Republic, Mexico, China and the United States. In addition to these training sessions, we have our own “Herbalife Broadcast Network” on the Internet that we use to provide distributors continual training and the most current product and marketing information.

 

Distributor reward and recognition is a significant factor in motivating our distributors. In 2009, 2008, and 2007 we invested approximately $84.1 million, $89.6 million, and $64.3 million, respectively, in regional and worldwide events and promotions to motivate our distributors to achieve and exceed both sales and recruiting goals.

Examples of our worldwide promotions are the 30th Anniversary Vacations and the Active World Team Promotion. The 30th Anniversary Vacations offer incentives for distributors to qualify to receive a vacation in Atlantis, Bahamas, immediately following the 2010 Summit Meeting in Orlando. The Active World Team Promotion provides cash and recognition incentives to distributors who achieve all three requirements for becoming a World Team Member and thus have proven themselves adept at building a well-balanced business.

 

Geographic Presence

 

As of December 31, 2009, we conducted business in 72 countries throughout the world. The following chart sets forth the countries we currently operate in as of December 31, 2009, organized in the Company’s six geographic regions, and the year in which we commenced operations.

 

During the first quarter of 2009, we changed our geographic regions, designating Mexico as its own region and combining South America and Central America into a single region. Historical information presented below relating to the geographic regions has been reclassified to conform to the current geographic presentation.

 

 

The top six countries worldwide represented approximately 59.4%, 58.0% and 56.1% of net sales in 2009, 2008, and 2007, respectively, reflecting our broad geographical diversification.

 

After entering a new country, in many instances we experience an initial period of rapid growth in sales as new distributors are recruited, that is then followed by a decline in sales. We believe that a significant factor affecting these markets is the opening of other new markets within the same geographic region or within the same or similar language or cultural bases. Some distributors tend to focus their attention on the business opportunities provided by these newer markets instead of developing their established sales organizations in existing markets to focus on driving deeper penetration. Additionally, in some instances, we have become aware that certain sales in certain existing markets were attributable to purchasers who distributed our products in countries that had not yet been opened. When these countries were opened, the sales in existing markets shifted to the newly opened markets, resulting in a decline in sales in the existing markets. To the extent we decide to open new markets in the future, we will continue to seek to minimize the impact on distributor focus in existing markets and to ensure that adequate distributor support services and other Herbalife systems are in place to support growth while maintaining prior sales levels within the region.

 

Manufacturing and Distribution

 

Many of our weight management, nutritional and personal care products are manufactured for us by third party manufacturing companies, with the exception of products distributed in and sourced from China, where we have our own manufacturing facility and several products are manufactured in our recently acquired manufacturing facility in Lake Forest, California. We are currently making modifications to our recently acquired manufacturing facility in order to increase capability and capacity, and upon completion of these modifications we expect to increase self manufacturing for our worldwide demand. We own proprietary formulations for substantially all of our weight management products and dietary and nutritional supplements. We source our products from multiple manufacturers, with our top three suppliers accounting for approximately 44% of our product purchases in 2009. In addition, many of our products can be made available from a secondary vendor if necessary. We work closely with our vendors in an effort to achieve the highest quality standards and product availability. We also have our own quality control labs in the U.S. and China at which we routinely test products received from vendors. We have established excellent relationships with our manufacturers and continue to obtain improvements in product quality and product delivery. Some of our key input materials such as soy and whey proteins, fructose and packaging materials are subject to pricing fluctuations driven by commodities pricing. We are confident that we can offset potential cost increases of these materials with our cost reduction program and, when necessary, by raising the prices of our products.

 

In order to coordinate and manage the manufacturing of our products, we utilize a significant demand planning and forecasting process that is directly tied to our production planning and purchasing systems. Using this sophisticated planning software and process allows us to balance our inventory levels to provide exceptional service to distributors while minimizing working capital and inventory obsolescence.

Our global distribution system features centralized and decentralized distribution and telephone ordering systems coupled with storefront distributor service centers. Our major distribution warehouses have automated “pick-to-light” systems which consistently deliver high order accuracy and inspection of every shipment before it is sent to delivery. Shipping and processing standards for orders placed are either the same day or the following business day.

 

Our products are distributed to foreign markets either from the facilities of our manufacturers or from our Los Angeles or Venray, Netherlands distribution centers. Products are distributed in the United States market from our Los Angeles distribution center, our Memphis distribution center or from our sales centers in Dallas, New York, Chicago, Phoenix and Tracy, California. Products distributed globally are generally transported by truck, cargo ship or plane to our international markets and are warehoused in either one of our foreign distribution centers or a contracted third party warehouse and distribution center. After the products arrive in a foreign market, distributors purchase the products from the local distribution center or the associated sales center. Generally, the products manufactured in Europe are shipped to a centralized warehouse facility, from which delivery by truck, ship or plane to other international markets occurs.

 

Product Return and Buy-Back Policies

 

In most markets, our products include a customer satisfaction guarantee. Under this guarantee any customer who is not satisfied with a Herbalife product for any reason may return it or any unused portion of it within 30 days of purchase to their distributor from whom it was purchased for a full refund from the distributor or credit toward the purchase of another Herbalife product. If they return the products to us on a timely basis, the distributor may obtain replacement product from us for such returned products. In addition, in most jurisdictions, we maintain a buy-back program pursuant to which we will repurchase products sold to a distributor provided that the distributor resigns as an Herbalife distributor, returns the product in marketable condition generally within twelve months of original purchase and meets certain documentation and other requirements. We believe this buy-back policy addresses a number of the regulatory compliance issues pertaining to network marketing, in that it offers monetary protection to distributors who want to exit the business. Product returns and buy-back expenses were approximately 0.5%, 0.8% and 1% of retail sales for the years ended December 31, 2009, 2008 and 2007, respectively. The decline in the product return and buy-back percentage was primarily due to the global emphasis on DMOs, which provide a more sustainable business foundation for our distributors.

 

Management Information, Internet and Telecommunication Systems

 

In order to facilitate our continued growth and support distributor activities, we continually upgrade our management information, Internet and telecommunication systems. These systems include: (1) a centralized host computer managed by Hewlett Packard in Colorado Springs, which is linked to our international markets through a dedicated wide area network that provides on-line, real-time computer connectivity and access and hosts our legacy operating systems and our new Oracle platform; (2) local area networks of personal computers within our markets, serving our regional administrative staffs; (3) an international e-mail system through which our employees communicate; (4) a standardized Northern Telecom Meridian telecommunication system in most of our markets; and (5) Internet websites to provide a variety of online services for distributors such as status of qualifications, meeting announcements, product information, application forms, educational materials and, in select markets including the United States, sales ordering capabilities. These systems are designed to provide, among other things, financial and operating data for management, timely and accurate product ordering, royalty override payment processing, inventory management and detailed distributor records. We intend to continue to invest in these systems in order to strengthen our operating platform.

 

Regulation

 

General

 

In both our United States and foreign markets, we are affected by extensive laws, governmental regulations, administrative determinations, court decisions and similar constraints. Such laws, regulations and other constraints exist at the federal, state or local levels in the United States and at all levels of government in foreign jurisdictions,

including regulations pertaining to: (1) the formulation, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, distribution, importation, sale and storage of our products; (2) product claims and advertising, including direct claims and advertising by us, as well as claims and advertising by distributors, for which we may be held responsible; (3) our network marketing program; (4) transfer pricing and similar regulations that affect the level of U.S. and foreign taxable income and customs duties; and (5) taxation of our independent distributors (which in some instances may impose an obligation on us to collect the taxes and maintain appropriate records).

 

Products

 

In the United States, the formulation, manufacturing, packaging, storing, labeling, promotion, advertising, distribution and sale of our products are subject to regulation by various governmental agencies, including (1) the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, (2) the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, (3) the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, (4) the United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA, (5) the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, (6) the United States Postal Service, (7) United States Customs and Border Protection, and (8) the Drug Enforcement Administration. Our activities also are regulated by various agencies of the states, localities and foreign countries in which our products are manufactured, distributed and sold. The FDA, in particular, regulates the formulation, manufacture and labeling of over-the-counter, or OTC, drugs, conventional foods, dietary supplements, and cosmetics such as those distributed by us. FDA regulations require us and our suppliers to meet relevant current good manufacturing practice, or cGMP, regulations for the preparation, packing and storage of foods and OTC drugs. On June 25, 2007, the FDA published its final rule regulating cGMPs for dietary supplements. The final rule became effective August 24, 2007 and large companies such as Herbalife had until June 2008 to achieve compliance. Herbalife initiated enhancements, modifications and improvements to its manufacturing and corporate quality processes and believes we are compliant with the FDA’s cGMP final rule with respect to dietary supplements sold by Herbalife in the United States that the Company produces at its Lake Forest, California and Suzhou, China facilities and that are produced by contract manufacturer NBTY. We have experienced increases in some product costs as a result of the necessary increase in testing of raw ingredients and finished products and compliance with higher quality standards.

 

Most OTC drugs are subject to FDA Monographs that establish labeling and composition requirements for these products. Those of our products which are classified as OTC drugs must comply with these Monographs, and our manufacturers must list all products with the FDA and follow cGMP. Our cosmetic products are regulated for safety by the FDA, which requires that ingredients meet industry standards for non-allergenicity and non-toxicity. Performance claims for cosmetics may not be “therapeutic.”

 

The U.S. Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, or DSHEA, revised the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, or FFDCA, concerning the composition and labeling of dietary supplements and, we believe, the revisions are generally favorable to the dietary supplement industry. The legislation created a new statutory class of dietary supplements. This new class includes vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids and other dietary substances for human use to supplement the diet, and the legislation grandfathers, with some limitations, dietary ingredients that were on the market before October 15, 1994. A dietary supplement that contains a dietary ingredient that was not on the market before October 15, 1994 will require evidence of a history of use or other evidence of safety establishing that it is reasonably expected to be safe. Manufacturers or marketers of dietary supplements in the United States and certain other jurisdictions that make product performance claims, including structure or function claims, must have substantiation in their possession that the statements are truthful and not misleading. The majority of the products marketed by us in the United States are classified as conventional foods or dietary supplements under the FFDCA. Internationally, the majority of products marketed by us are classified as foods or food supplements.

 

In January 2000, the FDA issued a regulation that defines the types of statements that can be made concerning the effect of a dietary supplement on the structure or function of the body pursuant to DSHEA. Under DSHEA, dietary supplement labeling may bear structure or function claims, which are claims that the products affect the structure or function of the body, without prior FDA approval, but with notification to the FDA. They may not bear a claim that they can prevent, treat, cure, mitigate or diagnose disease (a disease claim). The regulation describes how the FDA distinguishes disease claims from structure or function claims. During 2004, the FDA issued guidance, paralleling an earlier guidance from the FTC, defining a manufacturers obligations to substantiate structure/function claims. The FDA also issued a Structure/Function Claims Small Entity Compliance Guide. In addition, the

agency permits companies to use FDA-approved full and qualified health claims for products containing specific ingredients that meet stated requirements.

 

As a marketer of dietary and nutritional supplements and other products that are ingested by consumers, we are subject to the risk that one or more of the ingredients in our products may become the subject of regulatory action. A number of states restricted the sale of dietary supplements containing botanical sources of ephedrine alkaloids. As a result of these state regulations, we stopped sales of dietary supplements containing botanical sources of ephedrine alkaloids due to a shift in consumer preference for “ephedra free products” and a significant increase in products liability insurance premiums for products containing botanical sources of ephedrine group alkaloids. On December 31, 2002, we ceased sales of Thermojetics^® original green herbal tablets containing ephedrine alkaloids derived from Chinese Ma huang, as well as Thermojetics^® green herbal tablets and Thermojetics^® gold herbal tablets (the latter two containing the herb Sida cordifolia which is another botanical source of ephedrine alkaloids). On February 6, 2004, the FDA published a rule finding that dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids present an unreasonable risk of illness or injury under conditions of use recommended or suggested in the labeling of the product, or, if no conditions of use are suggested in the labeling, under ordinary conditions of use, and are therefore adulterated.

 

The FDA’s decision to ban ephedra triggered a significant reaction by the national media, some of whom are calling for the repeal or amendment of DSHEA. These media view supposed “weaknesses” within DSHEA as the underlying reason why ephedra was allowed to remain on the market. We have been advised that DSHEA opponents in Congress may use this anti-DSHEA momentum to advance new legislation during the 111th Congress to amend or repeal DSHEA. If this should occur we believe that the DSHEA opponents may propose the following: (1) premarket approval for safety and effectiveness of dietary ingredients; (2) specific premarket review of dietary ingredient stimulants that are being used to replace ephedra; (3) reversal of the burden of proof standard which now rests on the FDA; and (4) a redefining of “dietary ingredient” to remove either botanicals or selected classes of ingredients now treated as dietary ingredients.

 

On December 22, 2007, a new law went into effect in the United States mandating the reporting of all serious adverse events occurring within the United States which involve dietary supplements or OTC drugs. We believe that we are in full compliance with this law having promulgated and implemented a worldwide procedure governing adverse event identification, investigation and reporting which is managed by our Scientific Affairs department in collaboration with our Regulatory Affairs department, our Medical Affairs department and our Distributor Relations Call Centers. As a result of our receipt of adverse event reports, we may from time to time elect, or be required, to remove a product from a market, either temporarily or permanently.

 

On June 25, 2007, the FDA published its final rule regulating current good manufacturing practices, or cGMP, for dietary supplements. This final rule became effective on August 24, 2007. The final rule requires that companies establish written procedures governing: (1) personnel, (2) plant and equipment cleanliness, (3) lab and testing, (4) packaging and labeling, and (5) distribution. The FDA also required 100 percent identity testing of all incoming raw materials, although an interim final rule enables companies to petition for an exemption from the 100 percent testing requirement if they can demonstrate the existence of an appropriate statistical sampling program. The new cGMPs will help ensure that dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are not adulterated with contaminants or impurities, and are labeled to accurately reflect the active ingredients and other ingredients in the products. We have evaluated the final cGMP rule with respect to its potential impact upon the various contract manufacturers that we use to manufacture our products, some of which might not meet the new standards. It is important to note that the final cGMP rule, in an effort to limit disruption, includes a three-year phase-in for small businesses. This will mean that some of our contract manufacturers will not be fully impacted by the proposed regulation until at least 2010. However, the final cGMP rule has resulted in additional costs. See Item 1A — Risk Factors for further discussion regarding the recently promulgated cGMP regulations.

 

Some of the products marketed by us are considered conventional foods and are currently labeled as such. Within the United States, this category of products is subject to the Nutrition, Labeling and Education Act, or NLEA, and regulations promulgated under the NLEA. The NLEA regulates health claims, ingredient labeling and nutrient content claims characterizing the level of a nutrient in the product. The ingredients added to conventional foods must either be generally recognized as safe by experts, or GRAS, or be approved as food additives under FDA regulations.

In foreign markets, prior to commencing operations and prior to making or permitting sales of our products in the market, we may be required to obtain an approval, license or certification from the relevant country’s ministry of health or comparable agency. Where a formal approval, license or certification is not required, we nonetheless seek a favorable opinion of counsel regarding our compliance with applicable laws. Prior to entering a new market in which a formal approval, license or certificate is required, we work extensively with local authorities in order to obtain the requisite approvals. The approval process generally requires us to present each product and product ingredient to appropriate regulators and, in some instances, arrange for testing of products by local technicians for ingredient analysis. The approvals may be conditioned on reformulation of our products, or may be unavailable with respect to some products or some ingredients. Product reformulation or the inability to introduce some products or ingredients into a particular market may have an adverse effect on sales. We must also comply with product labeling and packaging regulations that vary from country to country. Our failure to comply with these regulations can result in a product being removed from sale in a particular market, either temporarily or permanently.

 

In 2005, Herbalife voluntarily elected to withdraw its Sesame & Herb tablet product from the Israeli market. This product, which has been on the market since 1989, was sold only in Israel. Herbalife’s voluntary decision to withdraw this product accompanied the initiation of a review by the Israeli Ministry of Health of anecdotal case reports of individuals having varying liver conditions when it was reported that a small number of these individuals had consumed Herbalife products. Herbalife scientists and medical doctors have closely cooperated with the Ministry of Health to facilitate this review. No regulatory action has been taken by the Israeli Ministry of Health.

 

The FTC, which exercises jurisdiction over the advertising of all of our products, has in the past several years instituted enforcement actions against several dietary supplement companies and against manufacturers of weight loss products generally for false and misleading advertising of some of their products. These enforcement actions have often resulted in consent decrees and monetary payments by the companies involved. In addition, the FTC has increased its scrutiny of the use of testimonials, which we also utilize, as well as the role of expert endorsers and product clinical studies. Although we have not been the target of FTC enforcement action for the advertising of our products, we cannot be sure that the FTC, or comparable foreign agencies, will not question our advertising or other operations in the future. It is unclear whether the FTC will subject our advertisements to increased surveillance to ensure compliance with the principles set forth in its published advertising guidance.

 

In Europe, where an EU Health Claim regulation is in effect, the European Food Safety Authority, or EFSA, issued opinions following its review of a number of proposed claims dossiers. If accepted by the European Commission, the EFSA’s opinions could have a limiting effect on the use of certain nutrition-specific claims made for our products. Such an outcome could have an adverse effect on existing product “wellness,” “well-being” and “good for you” claims presently made on existing product labeling, literature and advertising. Herbalife is currently seeking regulatory support for its current product claims while preparing for the possibility that based on limited acceptance of our claims by EFSA we may be precluded from continued use of such product claims.

 

In some countries, regulations applicable to the activities of our distributors also may affect our business because in some countries we are, or regulators may assert that we are, responsible for our distributors’ conduct. In these countries, regulators may request or require that we take steps to ensure that our distributors comply with local regulations. The types of regulated conduct include: (1) representations concerning our products; (2) income representations made by us and/or distributors; (3) public media advertisements, which in foreign markets may require prior approval by regulators; and (4) sales of products in markets in which the products have not been approved, licensed or certified for sale.

 

In some markets, it is possible that improper product claims by distributors could result in our products being reviewed by regulatory authorities and, as a result, being classified or placed into another category as to which stricter regulations are applicable. In addition, we might be required to make labeling changes.

 

We are unable to predict the nature of any future laws, regulations, interpretations or applications, nor can we predict what effect additional governmental regulations or administrative orders, when and if promulgated, would have on our business in the future.

 

They could, however, require: (1) the reformulation of some products not capable of being reformulated; (2) imposition of additional record keeping requirements; (3) expanded documentation of the properties of some

products; (4) expanded or different labeling; (5) additional scientific substantiation regarding product ingredients, safety or usefulness; and/or (6) additional distributor compliance surveillance and enforcement action by us.

 

Any or all of these requirements could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. All of our officers and directors are subject to a permanent injunction issued in October 1986 pursuant to the settlement of an action instituted by the California Attorney General, the State Health Director and the Santa Cruz County District Attorney. We consented to the entry of this injunction without in any way admitting the allegations of the complaint. The injunction prevents us and our officers and directors from making specified claims in future advertising of our products and required us to implement some documentation systems with respect to payments to our distributors. At the same time, the injunction does not prevent us from continuing to make specified claims concerning our products that have been made and are being made, provided that we have a reasonable basis for making the claims.

 

Network Marketing Program

 

Our network marketing program is subject to a number of federal and state regulations administered by the FTC and various state agencies as well as regulations in foreign markets administered by foreign agencies. Regulations applicable to network marketing organizations generally are directed at ensuring that product sales ultimately are made to consumers and that advancement within our organization is based on sales of the organization’s products rather than investments in the organization or other non-retail sales related criteria. For instance, in some markets, there are limits on the extent to which distributors may earn royalty overrides on sales generated by distributors that were not directly sponsored by the distributor. When required by law, we obtain regulatory approval of our network marketing program or, when this approval is not required, the favorable opinion of local counsel as to regulatory compliance. Nevertheless, we remain subject to the risk that, in one or more markets, our marketing system could be found not to be in compliance with applicable regulations. Failure by us to comply with these regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business in a particular market or in general.

 

On April 12, 2006, the FTC, issued a notice of proposed rulemaking which, if implemented in its originally proposed form, would have regulated sellers of “business opportunities” in the United States. As originally proposed this rule would have applied to us and, if adopted in its originally proposed form, could have adversely affected our U.S. business. On March 18, 2008 the FTC issued a revised proposed rule and, as indicated in the announcement accompanying the proposed rule, the revised proposal does not attempt to cover multilevel marketing companies such as Herbalife. If the revised rule is implemented as it is now proposed we believe that it would not significantly impact our U.S. business. Based on information currently available, we anticipate that the rule may become final within a year.

 

The FTC has approved revisions to its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, or Guides, which became effective on December 1, 2009. Although the Guides are not binding, they explain how the FTC interprets Section 5 of the FTC Act’s prohibition on unfair or deceptive acts or practices. Consequently, the FTC could bring a Section 5 enforcement action based on practices that are inconsistent with the Guides. Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her atypical experience with a product or service will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides, which allowed advertisers to describe atypical results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical”, the revised Guides no longer contain such a safe harbor. The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long-standing principle that “material connections” between advertisers and endorsers (such as payments or free products), connections that consumers might not expect, must be disclosed. Herbalife is reviewing the impact of the revised Guides as well as modifications to its practices and rules regarding the practices of its independent distributors that might be advisable with regard to the revised Guides. However, it is possible that our use, and that of our independent distributors, of testimonials in the advertising and promotion of our products, including but not limited to our weight management products and of our income opportunity will be significantly impacted and therefore might negatively impact our sales.

 

We also are subject to the risk of private party challenges to the legality of our network marketing program. For example, in Webster v. Omnitrition International, Inc., 79 F.3d 776 (9th Cir. 1996), the multi-level marketing program of Omnitrition International, Inc., or Omnitrition, was successfully challenged in a class action by Omnitrition distributors who alleged that Omnitrition was operating an illegal “pyramid scheme” in violation of

federal and state laws. We believe that our network marketing program satisfies the standards set forth in the Omnitrition case and other applicable statutes and case law defining a legal marketing system, in part based upon significant differences between our marketing system and that described in the Omnitrition case.

 

We are also subject to the risk of private party challenges to the legality of our network marketing program. The multi-level marketing programs of other companies have been successfully challenged in the past, and in a current lawsuit, allegations have been made challenging the legality of our network marketing program in Belgium. Test Ankoop-Test Achat, a Belgian consumer protection organization, sued Herbalife International Belgium, S.V., or HIB, on August 26, 2004, alleging that HIB violated Article 84 of the Belgian Fair Trade Practices Act by engaging in pyramid selling, i.e., establishing a network of professional or non-professional sales people who hope to make a profit more through the expansion of that network rather than through the sale of products to end-consumers. The plaintiff is seeking a payment of €25,000 (equal to approximately $36,500 as of December 31, 2009) per purported violation as well as costs of the trial. For the year ended December 31, 2009, our net sales in Belgium were approximately $16.0 million. Currently, the lawsuit is in the pleading stage. The plaintiffs filed their initial brief on September 27, 2005. We filed a reply brief on May 9, 2006 and on December 9, 2008 plaintiffs filed a responsive brief. There is no date yet for the oral hearings. An adverse judicial determination with respect to our network marketing program, or in proceedings not involving us directly but which challenge the legality of multi-level marketing systems, in Belgium or in any other market in which we operate, could negatively impact our business. We believe that we have meritorious defenses to the suit.

 

It is an ongoing part of our business to monitor and respond to regulatory and legal developments, including those that may affect our network marketing program. However, the regulatory requirements concerning network marketing programs do not include bright line rules and are inherently fact-based. An adverse judicial determination with respect to our network marketing program could have a material adverse effect on our business. An adverse determination could: (1) require us to make modifications to our network marketing program, (2) result in negative publicity or (3) have a negative impact on distributor morale. In addition, adverse rulings by courts in any proceedings challenging the legality of multi-level marketing systems, even in those not involving us directly, could have a material adverse effect on our operations.

 

Transfer Pricing and Similar Regulations

 

In many countries, including the United States, we are subject to transfer pricing and other tax regulations designed to ensure that appropriate levels of income are reported as earned by our U.S. or local entities and are taxed accordingly. In addition, our operations are subject to regulations designed to ensure that appropriate levels of customs duties are assessed on the importation of our products.

 

Although we believe that we are in substantial compliance with all applicable regulations and restrictions, we are subject to the risk that governmental authorities could audit our transfer pricing and related practices and assert that additional taxes are owed. For example, we are currently subject to pending or proposed audits that are at various levels of review, assessment or appeal in a number of jurisdictions involving transfer pricing issues, income taxes, duties, value added taxes, withholding taxes and related interest and penalties in material amounts. In some circumstances, additional taxes, interest and penalties have been assessed, and we will be required to appeal or litigate to reverse the assessments. We have taken advice from our tax advisors and believe that there are substantial defenses to the allegations that additional taxes are owed, and we are vigorously defending against the imposition of additional proposed taxes. The ultimate resolution of these matters may take several years, and the outcome is uncertain.

 

In the event that the audits or assessments are concluded adversely to us, we may or may not be able to offset or mitigate the consolidated effect of foreign income tax assessments through the use of U.S. foreign tax credits. Currently, we anticipate utilizing the majority of our foreign tax credits in the year in which they arise with the unused amount carried forward. Because the laws and regulations governing U.S. foreign tax credits are complex and subject to periodic legislative amendment, we cannot be sure that we would in fact be able to take advantage of any foreign tax credits in the future. As a result, adverse outcomes in these matters could have a material impact on our financial condition and operating results.

Other Regulations

 

We also are subject to a variety of other regulations in various foreign markets, including regulations pertaining to social security assessments, employment and severance pay requirements, import/export regulations and antitrust issues. As an example, in many markets, we are substantially restricted in the amount and types of rules and termination criteria that we can impose on distributors without having to pay social security assessments on behalf of the distributors and without incurring severance obligations to terminated distributors. In some countries, we may be subject to these obligations in any event.

 

Our failure to comply with these regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business in a particular market or in general. Assertions that we failed to comply with regulations or the effect of adverse regulations in one market could adversely affect us in other markets as well by causing increased regulatory scrutiny in those other markets or as a result of the negative publicity generated in those other markets.

 

Compliance Procedures

 

As indicated above, Herbalife, our products and our network marketing program are subject, both directly and indirectly through distributors’ conduct, to numerous federal, state and local regulations, both in the United States and foreign markets. Beginning in 1985, we began to institute formal regulatory compliance measures by developing a system to identify specific complaints against distributors and to remedy any violations of Herbalife’s rules by distributors through appropriate sanctions, including warnings, suspensions and, when necessary, terminations. In our manuals, seminars and other training programs and materials, we emphasize that distributors are prohibited from making therapeutic claims for our products.

 

Our general policy regarding acceptance of distributor applications from individuals who do not reside in one of our markets is to refuse to accept the individual’s distributor application. From time to time, exceptions to the policy are made on a country-by-country basis.

 

In order to comply with regulations that apply to both us and our distributors, we conduct considerable research into the applicable regulatory framework prior to entering any new market to identify all necessary licenses and approvals and applicable limitations on our operations in that market. Typically, we conduct this research with the assistance of local legal counsel and other representatives. We devote substantial resources to obtaining the necessary licenses and approvals and bringing our operations into compliance with the applicable limitations. We also research laws applicable to distributor operations and revise or alter our distributor manuals and other training materials and programs to provide distributors with guidelines for operating a business, marketing and distributing our products and similar matters, as required by applicable regulations in each market. We are, however, unable to monitor our sales leaders and distributors effectively to ensure that they refrain from distributing our products in countries where we have not commenced operations, and we do not devote significant resources to this type of monitoring.

 

In addition, regulations in existing and new markets often are ambiguous and subject to considerable interpretive and enforcement discretion by the responsible regulators. Moreover, even when we believe that we and our distributors are initially in compliance with all applicable regulations, new regulations regularly are being added and the interpretation of existing regulations is subject to change. Further, the content and impact of regulations to which we are subject may be influenced by public attention directed at us, our products or our network marketing program, so that extensive adverse publicity about us, our products or our network marketing program may result in increased regulatory scrutiny.

 

It is an ongoing part of our business to anticipate and respond to new and changing regulations and to make corresponding changes in our operations to the extent practicable. Although we devote considerable resources to maintaining our compliance with regulatory constraints in each of our markets, we cannot be sure that (1) we would be found to be in full compliance with applicable regulations in all of our markets at any given time or (2) the regulatory authorities in one or more markets will not assert, either retroactively or prospectively or both, that our operations are not in full compliance. These assertions or the effect of adverse regulations in one market could negatively affect us in other markets as well by causing increased regulatory scrutiny in those other markets or as a result of the negative publicity generated in those other markets. These assertions could have a material adverse

effect on us in a particular market or in general. Furthermore, depending upon the severity of regulatory changes in a particular market and the changes in our operations that would be necessitated to maintain compliance, these changes could result in our experiencing a material reduction in sales in the market or determining to exit the market altogether. In this event, we would attempt to devote the resources previously devoted to such market to a new market or markets or other existing markets. However, we cannot be sure that this transition would not have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations either in the short or long-term.

 

Trademarks and Proprietary Formulas

 

We use the umbrella trademarks Herbalife and the Tri-Leaf design worldwide, and protect several other trademarks and trade names related to our products and operations, such as Niteworks^®, Nourifusion^®, and Liftoff^®. Our trademark registrations are issued through the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, and comparable agencies in the foreign countries. We consider our trademarks and trade names to be an important factor in our business. We also take care in protecting the intellectual property rights of our proprietary formulas by restricting access to our formulas within the Company to those persons or departments that require access to them to perform their functions, and by requiring our finished goods-suppliers and consultants to execute supply and non-disclosure agreements that seek to contractually protect our intellectual property rights. Disclosure of these formulas, in redacted form, is also necessary to obtain sanitary registrations in many countries. We also make efforts to protect some unique formulations under patent law. For example, the USPTO has granted patent no. 7,329,419 to our employee inventors for the composition that related to an earlier formulation of the U.S. Total Control^® product formula. All rights in this patent have been assigned to Herbalife. We strive to protect all new product developments as the confidential trade secrets of the Company and its inventor employees. However, despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our proprietary rights.

 

Competition

 

The business of marketing weight management and nutrition products is highly competitive. This market segment includes numerous manufacturers, distributors, marketers, retailers and physicians that actively compete for the business of consumers both in the U.S. and abroad. The market is highly sensitive to the introduction of new products or weight management plans, including various prescriptions and over the counter drugs that may rapidly capture a significant share of the market. As a result, our ability to remain competitive depends in part upon the successful introduction of new products. In addition, we anticipate that we will be subject to increasing competition in the future from sellers that utilize electronic commerce. We cannot be sure of the impact of electronic commerce or that it will not adversely affect our business.

 

We are subject to significant competition for the recruitment of distributors from other network marketing organizations, including those that market weight management products, nutritional supplements and personal care products, as well as other types of products. Some of our competitors are substantially larger than we are, and have considerably greater financial resources than we have. Our ability to remain competitive depends, in significant part, on our success in recruiting and retaining distributors through an attractive compensation plan and other incentives. We believe that our production bonus program, international sponsorship program and other compensation and incentive programs provide our distributors with significant earning potential. However, we cannot be sure that our programs for recruitment and retention of distributors will be successful.

Executive Officers of the Registrant

 

The table sets forth certain information regarding each person who serves as an executive officer of the Company.

 

 

Michael O. Johnson is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr. Johnson joined the Company in April 2003 after 17 years with The Walt Disney Company, where he most recently served as President of Walt Disney International, and also served as President of Asia Pacific for The Walt Disney Company and President of Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Mr. Johnson has also previously served as a publisher of Audio Times magazine, and has directed the regional sales efforts of Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment Company for three of its television channels, including MTV, Nickelodeon and The Movie Channel. Mr. Johnson formerly served as a director of Univision Communications, Inc., a television company serving Spanish-speaking Americans and currently serves on the Board of Regents for Loyola High School of Los Angeles. Mr. Johnson received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Western State College.

 

Desmond Walsh is the President of the Company effective January 1, 2010. Mr. Walsh joined the Company in January 2004 as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Distributor Sales and was promoted to Executive Vice President for Worldwide Operations and Sales in April 2008. From 2001 to 2004, Mr. Walsh served as the Senior Vice President of the commercial division of DMX Music. Prior to DMX Music, Mr. Walsh spent five years as Vice President and General Manager of Supercomm, Inc., a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. Mr. Walsh also previously served in management positions at MovieQuik Systems, a division of The Southland Corporation (now 7-Eleven) and at Commtron Corporation, a leading consumer electronics and video distribution company. Mr. Walsh received his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of London.

 

Richard Goudis is Chief Operating Officer of the Company effective January 1, 2010. Mr. Goudis joined the Company in June 2004 as Chief Financial Officer after serving as the Chief Operating Officer of Rexall Sundown, a Nasdaq 100 company that was sold to Royal Numico in 2000, from 1998 to 2001. After the sale to Royal Numico, Mr. Goudis had operations responsibility for all of Royal Numico’s U.S. investments, including General Nutrition Centers, or GNC, Unicity International and Rexall Sundown. From 2002 to May 2004, Mr. Goudis was a partner at Flamingo Capital Partners, a firm he founded in 2002. Mr. Goudis also previously worked at Sunbeam Corporation and Pratt & Whitney. Mr. Goudis graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in Accounting and he received his MBA from Nova Southeastern University.

 

Brett R. Chapman is General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the Company. Mr. Chapman joined the Company in October 2003 after spending thirteen years at The Walt Disney Company, most recently as its Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, with responsibility for all legal matters relating to Disney’s Media Networks Group, including the ABC Television Network, the company’s cable properties including The Disney Channel and ESPN, and Disney’s radio and internet businesses. Prior to working at The Walt Disney Company, Mr. Chapman was an associate at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Mr. Chapman received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge and his Juris Doctorate from Southwestern University School of Law.

 

John DeSimone is Chief Financial Officer of the Company effective January 1, 2010. Mr. DeSimone joined the Company in November 2007 as Senior Vice President — Finance and was promoted to the position of Senior Vice President — Finance & Distributor Operations in December 2008. From June 2004 through October 2007, Mr. DeSimone served as the Chief Executive Officer of Mobile Ventures, LLC (formerly known as Autoware,

Inc.), an automotive aftermarket accessory distributor and retailer. Prior to working at Mobile Ventures, LLC, Mr. DeSimone previously served as the Controller, Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Rexall Sundown, Inc., a multinational manufacturer and distributor of nutritional supplements and sports nutrition products that was publicly traded while Mr. DeSimone served as its Controller and Vice President of Finance. Mr. DeSimone received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Accounting, from Bryant College.

 

Steve Henig, Ph.D.  is Chief Scientific Officer of the Company. Dr. Henig joined the Company in July 2005 after spending 6 years at Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., as Senior Vice President, Technology and Innovation with responsibility for the company’s new products program and medical research program. Prior to working at Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. Dr. Henig served as Senior Vice President, Technology and Marketing services at Con Agra’s Grocery products. Dr. Henig holds a Ph.D. in food science from Rutgers University, a M.S. in food and biotechnology and a B.S. in chemical engineering from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

 

Employees

 

As of December 31, 2009, we had approximately 4,100 employees. In China, as of December 31, 2009, we also had labor contracts with approximately 50,000 employed sales representatives. These numbers do not include our distributors, who are independent contractors rather than employees. Except for some employees in Mexico and in certain European countries, none of our employees are members of any labor union, and we have never experienced any business interruption as a result of any labor disputes.

 

Available Information

 

Our Internet website address is www.Herbalife.com. We make available free of charge on our website our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practical after we file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. This information is also available in print to any shareholder who requests it, with any such requests addressed to Investor Relations, 800 West Olympic Blvd., Suite 406, Los Angeles, CA 90015. Certain of these documents may also be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC also maintains an Internet website that contains reports, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov. We also make available free of charge on our website our Corporate Governance Guidelines, our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, and the Charters of our Audit Committee, Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, and Compensation Committee.

 

The worldwide financial and economic “crisis” could negatively impact our access to credit and the sales of our products and could harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

We are closely monitoring various aspects of the current worldwide financial and economic “crisis” and its potential impact on us, our liquidity, our access to capital, our operations and our overall financial condition. While we have historically met our funding needs utilizing cash flow from operating activities and while we believe we will have sufficient resources to meet current debt service obligations in a timely manner, no assurances can be given that the current overall downturn in the world economy will not significantly adversely impact us and our business operations. We note economic and financial markets are fluid and we cannot ensure that there will not be in the near future a material adverse deterioration in our sales or liquidity.

 

Our failure to establish and maintain distributor relationships for any reason could negatively impact sales of our products and harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

We distribute our products exclusively through approximately 2.0 million independent distributors, and we depend upon them directly for substantially all of our sales. To increase our revenue, we must increase the number of, or the productivity of, our distributors. Accordingly, our success depends in significant part upon our ability to recruit, retain and motivate a large base of distributors. There is a high rate of turnover among our distributors, which is a characteristic of the network marketing business. The loss of a significant number of distributors for any

reason could negatively impact sales of our products and could impair our ability to attract new distributors. In our efforts to attract and retain distributors, we compete with other network marketing organizations, including those in the weight management, dietary and nutritional supplement and personal care and cosmetic product industries. Our operating results could be harmed if our existing and new business opportunities and products do not generate sufficient interest to retain existing distributors and attract new distributors.

 

Our distributor organization has a high turnover rate, which is a common characteristic found in the direct selling industry. In light of this fact, we have our sales leaders re-qualify annually in order to maintain a more accurate count of their numbers. For the latest twelve month re-qualification period ending January 2010, 43% of our sales leaders re-qualified. Distributors who purchase our product for personal consumption or for short-term income goals may stay with us for several months to one year. Sales leaders who have committed time and effort to build a sales organization will generally stay for longer periods. Distributors have highly variable levels of training, skills and capabilities. The turnover rate of our distributors, and our operating results, can be adversely impacted if we, and our senior distributor leadership, do not provide the necessary mentoring, training and business support tools for new distributors to become successful sales people in a short period of time.

 

We estimate that, of our approximately 2.0 million independent distributors, we had approximately 481,000 sales leaders as of December 31, 2009. These sales leaders, together with their downline sales organizations, account for substantially all of our revenues. Our distributors, including our sales leaders, may voluntarily terminate their distributor agreements with us at any time. The loss of a group of leading sales leaders, together with their downline sales organizations, or the loss of a significant number of distributors for any reason, could negatively impact sales of our products, impair our ability to attract new distributors and harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

Since we cannot exert the same level of influence or control over our independent distributors as we could were they our own employees, our distributors could fail to comply with our distributor policies and procedures, which could result in claims against us that could harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

Excluding our China sales employees, our distributors are independent contractors and, accordingly, we are not in a position to directly provide the same direction, motivation and oversight as we would if distributors were our own employees. As a result, there can be no assurance that our distributors will participate in our marketing strategies or plans, accept our introduction of new products, or comply with our distributor policies and procedures.

 

Extensive federal, state and local laws regulate our business, products and network marketing program. Because we have expanded into foreign countries, our policies and procedures for our independent distributors differ due to the different legal requirements of each country in which we do business. While we have implemented distributor policies and procedures designed to govern distributor conduct and to protect the goodwill associated with Herbalife trademarks and tradenames, it can be difficult to enforce these policies and procedures because of the large number of distributors and their independent status. Violations by our independent distributors of applicable law or of our policies and procedures in dealing with customers could reflect negatively on our products and operations and harm our business reputation. In addition, it is possible that a court could hold us civilly or criminally accountable based on vicarious liability because of the actions of our independent distributors.

 

Adverse publicity associated with our products, ingredients or network marketing program, or those of similar companies, could harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

The size of our distribution force and the results of our operations may be significantly affected by the public’s perception of the Company and similar companies. This perception is dependent upon opinions concerning:

 

 

Adverse publicity concerning any actual or purported failure of our Company or our independent distributors to comply with applicable laws and regulations regarding product claims and advertising, good manufacturing practices, the regulation of our network marketing program, the licensing of our products for sale in our target markets or other aspects of our business, whether or not resulting in enforcement actions or the imposition of penalties, could have an adverse effect on the goodwill of our Company and could negatively affect our ability to attract, motivate and retain distributors, which would negatively impact our ability to generate revenue. We cannot ensure that all distributors will comply with applicable legal requirements relating to the advertising, labeling, licensing or distribution of our products.

 

In addition, our distributors’ and consumers’ perception of the safety and quality of our products and ingredients as well as similar products and ingredients distributed by other companies can be significantly influenced by media attention, publicized scientific research or findings, widespread product liability claims and other publicity concerning our products or ingredients or similar products and ingredients distributed by other companies. For example, in May 2008 public allegations were made that certain of our products contain excessive amounts of lead thereby triggering disclosure and labeling requirements under California Proposition 65. While we have confidence in our products because they fall within the FDA suggested guidelines for the amount of lead that consumers can safely ingest and do not believe they trigger disclosure or labeling requirements under California Proposition 65, negative publicity such as this can disrupt our business. Adverse publicity, whether or not accurate or resulting from consumers’ use or misuse of our products, that associates consumption of our products or ingredients or any similar products or ingredients with illness or other adverse effects, questions the benefits of our or similar products or claims that any such products are ineffective, inappropriately labeled or have inaccurate instructions as to their use, could lead to lawsuits or other legal challenges and could negatively impact our reputation, the market demand for our products, or our general business.

 

From time to time we receive inquiries from government agencies and third parties requesting information concerning our products. We fully cooperate with these inquiries including, when requested, by the submission of detailed technical dossiers addressing product composition, manufacturing, process control, quality assurance, and contaminant testing. We understand that such materials are undergoing review by regulators in certain markets. In the course of one such inquiry the Spanish Ministry of Health elected to issue a press release, or communicado, to inform the public of a then on-going inquiry and dialogue with our Company. Upon completion of its review of Herbalife products distributed in Spain, the Spanish Ministry of Health withdrew its communicado in April 2009. We are confident in the safety of our products when used as directed. However, there can be no assurance that regulators in these or other markets will not take actions that might delay or prevent the introduction of new products, or require the reformulation or the temporary or permanent withdrawal of certain of our existing products from their markets.

 

Adverse publicity relating to us, our products or our operations, including our network marketing program or the attractiveness or viability of the financial opportunities provided thereby, has had, and could again have, a negative effect on our ability to attract, motivate and retain distributors. In the mid-1980’s, our products and marketing program became the subject of regulatory scrutiny in the United States, resulting in large part from claims and representations made about our products by our independent distributors, including impermissible therapeutic claims. The resulting adverse publicity caused a rapid, substantial loss of distributors in the United States and a corresponding reduction in sales beginning in 1985. We expect that negative publicity will, from time to time, continue to negatively impact our business in particular markets.

 

Our failure to appropriately respond to changing consumer preferences and demand for new products or product enhancements could significantly harm our distributor and customer relationships and product sales and harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

Our business is subject to changing consumer trends and preferences, especially with respect to weight management products. Our continued success depends in part on our ability to anticipate and respond to these changes, and we may not respond in a timely or commercially appropriate manner to such changes. Furthermore, the nutritional supplement industry is characterized by rapid and frequent changes in demand for products and new product introductions and enhancements. Our failure to accurately predict these trends could negatively impact consumer opinion of our products, which in turn could harm our customer and distributor relationships and cause

the loss of sales. The success of our new product offerings and enhancements depends upon a number of factors, including our ability to:

 

 

If we do not introduce new products or make enhancements to meet the changing needs of our customers in a timely manner, some of our products could be rendered obsolete, which could negatively impact our revenues, financial condition and operating results.

 

Due to the high level of competition in our industry, we might fail to retain our customers and distributors, which would harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

The business of marketing weight management and nutrition products is highly competitive and sensitive to the introduction of new products or weight management plans, including various prescription drugs, which may rapidly capture a significant share of the market. These market segments include numerous manufacturers, distributors, marketers, retailers and physicians that actively compete for the business of consumers both in the United States and abroad. In addition, we anticipate that we will be subject to increasing competition in the future from sellers that utilize electronic commerce. Some of these competitors have longer operating histories, significantly greater financial, technical, product development, marketing and sales resources, greater name recognition, larger established customer bases and better-developed distribution channels than we do. Our present or future competitors may be able to develop products that are comparable or superior to those we offer, adapt more quickly than we do to new technologies, evolving industry trends and standards or customer requirements, or devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of their products than we do. For example, if our competitors develop other diet or weight loss treatments that prove to be more effective than our products, demand for our products could be reduced. Accordingly, we may not be able to compete effectively in our markets and competition may intensify.

 

We are also subject to significant competition for the recruitment of distributors from other network marketing organizations, including those that market weight management products, dietary and nutritional supplements and personal care products as well as other types of products. We compete for global customers and distributors with regard to weight management, nutritional supplement and personal care products. Our competitors include both direct selling companies such as NuSkin Enterprises, Nature’s Sunshine, Alticor/Amway, Melaleuca, Avon Products, Oriflame and Mary Kay, as well as retail establishments such as Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, General Nutrition Centers, Wal-Mart and retail pharmacies.

 

In addition, because the industry in which we operate is not particularly capital intensive or otherwise subject to high barriers to entry, it is relatively easy for new competitors to emerge who will compete with us for our distributors and customers. In addition, the fact that our distributors may easily enter and exit our network marketing program contributes to the level of competition that we face. For example, a distributor can enter or exit our network marketing system with relative ease at any time without facing a significant investment or loss of capital because (1) we have a low upfront financial cost to become a Herbalife distributor, (2) we do not require any specific amount of time to work as a distributor, (3) we do not insist on any special training to be a distributor and (4) we do not prohibit a new distributor from working with another company. Our ability to remain competitive therefore depends, in significant part, on our success in recruiting and retaining distributors through an attractive compensation plan, the maintenance of an attractive product portfolio and other incentives. We cannot ensure that our programs for recruitment and retention of distributors will be successful and if they are not, our financial condition and operating results would be harmed.

We are affected by extensive laws, governmental regulations, administrative determinations, court decisions and similar constraints both domestically and abroad, and our failure or our distributors’ failure to comply with these constraints could lead to the imposition of significant penalties or claims, which could harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

In both domestic and foreign markets, the formulation, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, distribution, importation, exportation, licensing, sale and storage of our products are affected by extensive laws, governmental regulations, administrative determinations, court decisions and similar constraints. Such laws, regulations and other constraints may exist at the federal, state or local levels in the United States and at all levels of government in foreign jurisdictions. There can be no assurance that we or our distributors are in compliance with all of these regulations. Our failure or our distributors’ failure to comply with these regulations or new regulations could lead to the imposition of significant penalties or claims and could negatively impact our business. In addition, the adoption of new regulations or changes in the interpretations of existing regulations may result in significant compliance costs or discontinuation of product sales and may negatively impact the marketing of our products, resulting in significant loss of sales revenues.

 

In April 2006, the FTC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking which, if implemented in its originally proposed form, would have regulated all sellers of “business opportunities” in the United States. As originally proposed this rule would have applied to us and, if adopted in its originally proposed form, could have adversely impacted our U.S. business. On March 18, 2008, the FTC issued a revised proposed rule and, as indicated in the announcement accompanying the proposed rule, the revised proposal does not attempt to cover multilevel marketing companies such as Herbalife. If the revised rule were implemented as it is now proposed, we believe that it would not significantly impact our U.S. business. Based on information currently available, we anticipate that the rule may become final within the year.

 

The FTC has approved revisions to its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, or Guides, which became effective on December 1, 2009. Although the Guides are not binding, they explain how the FTC interprets Section 5 of the FTC Act’s prohibition on unfair or deceptive acts or practices. Consequently, the FTC could bring a Section 5 enforcement action based on practices that are inconsistent with the Guides. Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her atypical experience with a product or service will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides, which allowed advertisers to describe atypical results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical”, the revised Guides no longer contain such a safe harbor. The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long-standing principle that “material connections” between advertisers and endorsers (such as payments or free products), connections that consumers might not expect, must be disclosed. Herbalife is reviewing the impact of the revised Guides as well as modifications to its practices and rules regarding the practices of its independent distributors that might be advisable with regard to the revised Guides. However, it is possible that our use, and that of our independent distributors, of testimonials in the advertising and promotion of our products, including but not limited to our weight management products and of our income opportunity will be significantly impacted and therefore might negatively impact our sales.

 

Governmental regulations in countries where we plan to commence or expand operations may prevent or delay entry into those markets. In addition, our ability to sustain satisfactory levels of sales in our markets is dependent in significant part on our ability to introduce additional products into such markets. However, governmental regulations in our markets, both domestic and international, can delay or prevent the introduction, or require the reformulation or withdrawal, of certain of our products. For example, during the third quarter of 1995, we received inquiries from certain governmental agencies within Germany and Portugal regarding our product, Thermojetics^® Instant Herbal Beverage, relating to the caffeine content of the product and the status of the product as an “instant tea,” which was disfavored by regulators, versus a “beverage.” Although we initially suspended the product sale in Germany and Portugal at the request of the regulators, we successfully reintroduced it once regulatory issues were satisfactorily resolved. In another example, during the second quarter of 2008 the Spanish Ministry of Health issued a press release, or communicado, informing the public of a then on-going inquiry into the safety of our Company’s products sold in Spain. Upon completion of its review of Herbalife products distributed in Spain, the Spanish Ministry of Health withdrew its communicado. Any such regulatory action, whether or not it

results in a final determination adverse to us, could create negative publicity, with detrimental effects on the motivation and recruitment of distributors and, consequently, on sales.

 

On June 25, 2007, the FDA published its final rule for cGMPs affecting the manufacture, packing, and holding of dietary supplements. The final rule requires identity testing on all incoming dietary ingredients, but permits the use of certificates of analysis or other documentation to verify the reliability of the ingredient suppliers. On the same date the FDA also published an interim final rule that outlined a petition process for manufacturers to request an exemption to the cGMP requirement for 100 percent identity testing of specific dietary ingredients used in the processing of dietary supplements. Under the interim final rule the manufacturer may be exempted from the dietary ingredient testing requirement if it can provide sufficient documentation that the reduced frequency of testing requested would still ensure the identity of the dietary ingredient. The final rule includes a phased-in effective date based on the size of the manufacturer. The final rule and the interim final rule became effective August 24, 2007. To limit any disruption for dietary supplements produced by small businesses the final rule has a three year phase in for small businesses. Firms that directly employ more than 500 full-time equivalent employees must have achieved compliance with the new cGMPs by June 25, 2008, while firms having between 20-500 full-time equivalent employees must be compliant by 2009 and firms having under 20 full-time equivalent employees must be compliant by 2010. Herbalife initiated enhancements, modifications and improvements to its manufacturing and corporate quality processes and believes that it is compliant with the FDA’s cGMP final rule with respect to dietary supplements sold by Herbalife in the United States that the Company produces at its Lake Forest, California facility and its Suzhou, China facility and that are produced by contract manufacturers. These rules apply only to manufacturers and holders of finished products and not to ingredient suppliers unless the ingredient supplier is manufacturing a final dietary supplement. Due to the final cGMP rules, we have experienced increases in some product costs as a result of the necessary increase in testing of raw ingredients and finished products and this may cause us to seek alternate suppliers.

 

Our network marketing program could be found to be not in compliance with current or newly adopted laws or regulations in one or more markets, which could prevent us from conducting our business in these markets and harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

Our network marketing program is subject to a number of federal and state regulations administered by the FTC and various state agencies in the United States as well as regulations on direct selling in foreign markets administered by foreign agencies. We are subject to the risk that, in one or more markets, our network marketing program could be found not to be in compliance with applicable law or regulations. Regulations applicable to network marketing organizations generally are directed at preventing fraudulent or deceptive schemes, often referred to as “pyramid” or “chain sales” schemes, by ensuring that product sales ultimately are made to consumers and that advancement within an organization is based on sales of the organization’s products rather than investments in the organization or other non-retail sales-related criteria. The regulatory requirements concerning network marketing programs do not include “bright line” rules and are inherently fact-based, and thus, even in jurisdictions where we believe that our network marketing program is in full compliance with applicable laws or regulations governing network marketing systems, we are subject to the risk that these laws or regulations or the enforcement or interpretation of these laws and regulations by governmental agencies or courts can change. The failure of our network marketing program to comply with current or newly adopted regulations could negatively impact our business in a particular market or in general.

 

We are also subject to the risk of private party challenges to the legality of our network marketing program. The multi-level marketing programs of other companies have been successfully challenged in the past and in a current lawsuit allegations have been made challenging the legality of our network marketing program in Belgium. Test Ankoop-Test Achat, a Belgian consumer protection organization, sued Herbalife International Belgium, S.V., or HIB, on August 26, 2004, alleging that HIB violated Article 84 of the Belgian Fair Trade Practices Act by engaging in pyramid selling, i.e., establishing a network of professional or non-professional sales people who hope to make a profit more through the expansion of that network rather than through the sale of products to end-consumers. The plaintiff is seeking a payment of €25,000 (equal to approximately $36,500 as of December 31, 2009) per purported violation as well as costs of the trial. For the year ended December 31, 2009, our net sales in Belgium were approximately $16.0 million. Currently, the lawsuit is in the pleading stage. The plaintiffs filed their initial brief on

September 27, 2005 and on May 9, 2006 we filed a reply brief. On December 9, 2008 plaintiffs filed a responsive brief and on June 24, 2009 we filed a reply brief. There is no date yet for the oral hearings. An adverse judicial determination with respect to our network marketing program, or in proceedings not involving us directly but which challenge the legality of multi-level marketing systems, in Belgium or in any other market in which we operate, could negatively impact our business. We believe that we have meritorious defenses to the suit.

 

On April 16, 2007 Herbalife International of America, Inc. filed a Complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against certain former Herbalife distributors who had left the Company to join a competitor. The Complaint alleged breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, intentional interference with contract, unfair competition, constructive trust and fraud and seeks monetary damages, attorney’s fees and injunctive relief. (Herbalife International of America, Inc. v. Robert E. Ford, et al) The court entered a Preliminary Injunction against the defendants enjoining them from further use and/or misappropriation of the Company’s trade secrets on December 11, 2007. Defendants appealed the court’s entry of the Preliminary Injunction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. That court affirmed, in relevant part, the Preliminary Injunction. On December 3, 2007 the defendants filed a counterclaim alleging that the Company had engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices, intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, false advertising and that the Company was an endless chain scheme in violation of California law and seeking restitution, contract rescission and an injunction. Both sides engaged in discovery and filed cross motions for Summary Judgment. On August 25, 2009 the court granted partial summary judgment for Herbalife on all of defendants’ claims except the claim that the Company is an endless chain scheme which under applicable law is a question of fact that can only be determined at trial. The court denied defendants’ motion for Summary Judgment on Herbalife’s claims for misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of contract. On December 4, 2009 the Court ordered mediation to occur on February 8, 2010 and set a schedule for Herbalife’s motion for summary judgment to dismiss the sole remaining counterclaim by the defendants, with a hearing scheduled for March 9, 2010 if all matters were not resolved before that date. The mediation occurred but did not resolve any issues. No date has been set for trial. The Company believes that there is merit to its remaining claims for relief and have meritorious defenses to the remaining counterclaim.

 

A substantial portion of our business is conducted in foreign markets, exposing us to the risks of trade or foreign exchange restrictions, increased tariffs, foreign currency fluctuations and similar risks associated with foreign operations.

 

Approximately 80% of our net sales for the year ended December 31, 2009, were generated outside the United States, exposing our business to risks associated with foreign operations. For example, a foreign government may impose trade or foreign exchange restrictions or increased tariffs, which could negatively impact our operations. We are also exposed to risks associated with foreign currency fluctuations. For instance, purchases from suppliers are generally made in U.S. dollars while sales to distributors are generally made in local currencies. Accordingly, strengthening of the U.S. dollar versus a foreign currency could have a negative impact on us. Although we engage in transactions to protect against risks associated with foreign currency fluctuations, we cannot be certain any hedging activity will effectively reduce our exchange rate exposure. Our operations in some markets also may be adversely affected by political, economic and social instability in foreign countries. As we continue to focus on expanding our existing international operations, these and other risks associated with international operations may increase, which could harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

Currency restrictions enacted by the Venezuelan government in 2003 have become more restrictive and have impacted the ability of our subsidiary in Venezuela, or Herbalife Venezuela, to obtain U.S. dollars at the official foreign exchange rate. The application and approval processes have been intermittently delayed in recent periods and the timing and ability to obtain U.S. dollars at the official exchange rate remains uncertain. In certain instances, we have made appropriate applications through the Venezuelan government and its Foreign Exchange Commission, CADIVI, for approval to obtain U.S. dollars to pay for imported products and an annual dividend at the official exchange rate. In other instances, in order to timely provide products to our distributors, we did not register certain shipments with CADIVI, or non-CADIVI registered, and instead used a legal parallel market mechanism for payment. Unless our ability to obtain U.S. dollars at the official foreign exchange rate is made more readily available, the results of Herbalife Venezuela’s operations will be negatively impacted as it may need to obtain more

U.S. dollars from alternative sources where the exchange rate is weaker than the official rate. Additionally, if we are unable to import products at the official foreign exchange rate in Venezuela, we may implement price increases and surcharges to the selling price of our products to compensate for the incremental cost of importation. This could adversely affect sales volume in Venezuela.

 

Venezuela’s inflation rate as measured using the blended National Consumer Price Index and Consumer Price Index rate exceeded the three-year cumulative inflation rate of 100% as of December 31, 2009. Accordingly, effective January 1, 2010, Venezuela is considered a highly inflationary economy, which will require Herbalife Venezuela to use the U.S. dollar as their functional currency with foreign currency gains and losses recorded to the consolidated statement of income. In early January 2010, Venezuela announced an official rate devaluation of the Venezuelan Bolivar Fuerte, or Bolivar, to an official rate of 4.30 Bolivars per U.S. dollar for non-essential items and 2.60 Bolivars per U.S. dollar for essential items. These events will have a negative impact to our earnings as further discussed in Item 7 — Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

 

Our expansion in China is subject to general, as well as industry-specific, economic, political and legal developments and risks in China and requires that we utilize a different business model from that which we use elsewhere in the world.

 

Our expansion of operations into China is subject to risks and uncertainties related to general economic, political and legal developments in China, among other things. The Chinese government exercises significant control over the Chinese economy, including but not limited to controlling capital investments, allocating resources, setting monetary policy, controlling foreign exchange and monitoring foreign exchange rates, implementing and overseeing tax regulations, providing preferential treatment to certain industry segments or companies and issuing necessary licenses to conduct business. Accordingly, any adverse change in the Chinese economy, the Chinese legal system or Chinese governmental, economic or other policies could have a material adverse effect on our business in China and our prospects generally.

 

In August 2005, China published regulations governing direct selling (effective December 1, 2005) and prohibiting pyramid promotional schemes (effective November 1, 2005), and a number of administrative methods and proclamations were issued in September 2005 and in September 2006. These regulations require us to use a business model different from that which we offer in other markets. To allow us to operate under these regulations, we have created and introduced a model specifically for China. In China, we have Company-operated retail stores that sell through employed sales personnel to customers and preferred customers. We provide training and certification procedures for sales personnel in China. We have non-employee sales representatives who sell through our retail stores. Our sales representatives are also permitted by the terms of our direct selling licenses to sell away from fixed retail locations in the provinces of Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shandong, Zhejiang (excluding Ningbo), Guizhou, Beijing, Fuijan, Sichuan, Hubei, Shanxi, and Shanghai. Our direct selling license for Shanghai will permit us to sell away from fixed retail locations once our Shanghai outlet is inspected and confirmed by the relevant authority. We have also engaged independent service providers that meet both the requirements to operate their own business under Chinese law as well as the conditions set forth by Herbalife to sell products and provide services to Herbalife customers. These features are not common to the business model we employ elsewhere in the world, and based on the direct selling licenses we have received and the terms of those which we hope to receive in the future to conduct a direct selling enterprise in China, our business model in China will continue in some part to incorporate such features. The direct selling regulations require us to apply for various approvals to conduct a direct selling enterprise in China. The process for obtaining the necessary licenses to conduct a direct selling business is protracted and cumbersome and involves multiple layers of Chinese governmental authorities and numerous governmental employees at each layer. While direct selling licenses are centrally issued, such licenses are generally valid only in the jurisdictions within which related approvals have been obtained. Such approvals are generally awarded on local and provincial bases, and the approval process requires involvement with multiple ministries at each level. Our participation and conduct during the approval process is guided not only by distinct Chinese practices and customs, but is also subject to applicable laws of China and the other jurisdictions in which we operate our business, including the U.S., and our internal code of ethics. There is always a risk that in attempting to comply with local customs and practices in China during the application process or otherwise, we will fail to comply with requirements applicable to us in China itself or in other jurisdictions, and any such failure to comply with applicable

requirements could prevent us from obtaining the direct selling licenses or related local or provincial approvals. Furthermore, we rely on certain key personnel in China to assist us during the approval process, and the loss of any such key personnel could delay or hinder our ability to obtain licenses or related approvals. For all of the above reasons, there can be no assurance that we will obtain additional direct-selling licenses, or obtain related approvals to expand into any or all of the localities or provinces in China that are important to our business. Our inability to obtain, retain, or renew any or all of the licenses or related approvals that are required for us to operate in China would negatively impact our business.

 

Additionally, although certain regulations have been published with respect to obtaining such approvals, operating under such approvals and otherwise conducting business in China, other regulations are pending, and there is uncertainty regarding the interpretation and enforcement of Chinese regulations. The regulatory environment in China is evolving, and officials in the Chinese government exercise broad discretion in deciding how to interpret and apply regulations. We cannot be certain that our business model will continue to be deemed by national or local Chinese regulatory authorities to be compliant with any such regulations. In the past, the Chinese government has rigorously monitored the direct selling market in China, and has taken serious action against companies that the government believed were engaging in activities they regarded to be in violation of applicable law, including shutting down their businesses and imposing substantial fines. As a result, there can be no guarantee that the Chinese government’s current or future interpretation and application of the existing and new regulations will not negatively impact our business in China, result in regulatory investigations or lead to fines or penalties against us or our Chinese distributors.

 

Chinese regulations prevent persons who are not Chinese nationals from engaging in direct selling in China. We cannot guarantee that any of our distributors living outside of China or any of our independent sales representatives or employed sales management personnel in China have not engaged or will not engage in activities that violate our policies in this market, or that violate Chinese law or other applicable law, and therefore result in regulatory action and adverse publicity.

 

China enacted a labor contract law which took effect January 1, 2008 and on September 18, 2008 an implementing regulation took effect. We have reviewed our employment contracts and contractual relations with employees in China, which include certain of our sales persons, and have made such changes as we believed to be necessary or appropriate to bring these contracts and contractual relations into compliance with this new law and its implementing regulation. In addition, we continue to monitor the situation to determine how this new law and regulation will be implemented in practice. There is no guarantee that the new law will not adversely impact us, force us to change our treatment of our distributor employees, or cause us to change our operating plan for China.

 

If our operations in China are successful, we may experience rapid growth in China, and there can be no assurances that we will be able to successfully manage rapid expansion of manufacturing operations and a rapidly growing and dynamic sales force. There also can be no assurances that we will not experience difficulties in dealing with or taking employment related actions (such as hiring, terminations and salary administration, including social benefit payments) with respect to our employed sales representatives, particularly given the highly regulated nature of the employment relationship in China. If we are unable to effectively manage such growth and expansion of our retail stores, manufacturing operations or our employees, our government relations may be compromised and our operations in China may be harmed.

 

Our China business model, particularly with regard to sales management responsibilities and remuneration, differs from our traditional business model. There is a risk that such changes and transitions may not be understood by our distributors or employees, may be viewed negatively by our distributors or employees, or may not be correctly utilized by our distributors or employees. If that is the case, our business could be negatively impacted.

 

If we fail to further penetrate existing markets or successfully expand our business into new markets, then the growth in sales of our products, along with our operating results, could be negatively impacted.

 

The success of our business is to a large extent contingent on our ability to continue to grow by entering new markets and further penetrating existing markets. Our ability to further penetrate existing markets or to successfully expand our business into additional countries in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, South America or elsewhere, to the

extent we believe that we have identified attractive geographic expansion opportunities in the future, is subject to numerous factors, many of which are out of our control.

 

In addition, government regulations in both our domestic and international markets can delay or prevent the introduction, or require the reformulation or withdrawal, of some of our products, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, our ability to increase market penetration in certain countries may be limited by the finite number of persons in a given country inclined to pursue a direct selling business opportunity or consumers willing to purchase Herbalife products. Moreover, our growth will depend upon improved training and other activities that enhance distributor retention in our markets. While we have recently experienced significant growth in certain of our markets, we cannot assure you that such growth levels will continue in the immediate or long term future. Furthermore, our efforts to support growth in such international markets could be hampered to the extent that our infrastructure in such markets is deficient when compared to our more developed markets, such as the U.S. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our general efforts to increase our market penetration and distributor retention in existing markets will be successful. If we are unable to continue to expand into new markets or further penetrate existing markets, our operating results could suffer.

 

Our contractual obligation to sell our products only through our Herbalife distributor network and to refrain from changing certain aspects of our marketing plan may limit our growth.

 

We are a party to an agreement with our distributors that provides assurances that a change in ownership will not negatively affect certain aspects of their business. Through this agreement, we committed to our distributors that we will not sell Herbalife products through any distribution channel other than our network of independent Herbalife distributors. Thus, we are contractually prohibited from expanding our business by selling Herbalife products through other distribution channels that may be available to our competitors, such as over the internet, through wholesale sales, by establishing retail stores or through mail order systems. Since this is an open-ended commitment, there can be no assurance that we will be able to take advantage of innovative new distribution channels that are developed in the future.

 

In addition, our agreement with our distributors provides that we will not change certain aspects of our marketing plan without the consent of a specified percentage of our distributors. For example, our agreement with our distributors provides that we may increase, but not decrease, the discount percentages available to our distributors for the purchase of products or the applicable royalty override percentages, including roll-ups, and production and other bonus percentages available to our distributors at various qualification levels within our distributor hierarchy. We may not modify the eligibility or qualification criteria for these discounts, royalty overrides and production and other bonuses unless we do so in a manner to make eligibility and/or qualification easier than under the applicable criteria in effect as of the date of the agreement. Our agreement with our distributors further provides that we may not vary the criteria for qualification for each distributor tier within our distributor hierarchy, unless we do so in such a way so as to make qualification easier.

 

Although we reserved the right to make these changes to our marketing plan without the consent of our distributors in the event that changes are required by applicable law or are necessary in our reasonable business judgment to account for specific local market or currency conditions to achieve a reasonable profit on operations, there can be no assurance that our agreement with our distributors will not restrict our ability to adapt our marketing plan to the evolving requirements of the markets in which we operate. As a result, our growth may be limited.

 

We depend on the integrity and reliability of our information technology infrastructure, and any related inadequacies may result in substantial interruptions to our business.

 

Our ability to provide products and services to our distributors depends on the performance and availability of our core transactional systems. We upgraded our back office systems globally to the Oracle Enterprise Suite which is supported by a robust hardware and network infrastructure. The Oracle Enterprise Suite is a scalable and stable solution that provides a solid foundation upon which we are building our next generation Distributor facing Internet toolset. While we continue to invest in our information technology infrastructure, there can be no assurance that there will not be any significant interruptions to such systems or that the systems will be adequate to meet all of our future business needs.

The most important aspect of our information technology infrastructure is the system through which we record and track distributor sales, volume points, royalty overrides, bonuses and other incentives. We have encountered, and may encounter in the future, errors in our software or our enterprise network, or inadequacies in the software and services supplied by our vendors, although to date none of these errors or inadequacies has had a meaningful adverse impact on our business. Any such errors or inadequacies that we may encounter in the future may result in substantial interruptions to our services and may damage our relationships with, or cause us to lose, our distributors if the errors or inadequacies impair our ability to track sales and pay royalty overrides, bonuses and other incentives, which would harm our financial condition and operating results. Such errors may be expensive or difficult to correct in a timely manner, and we may have little or no control over whether any inadequacies in software or services supplied to us by third parties are corrected, if at all.

 

Since we rely on independent third parties for the manufacture and supply of certain of our products, if these third parties fail to reliably supply products to us at required levels of quality, then our financial condition and operating results would be harmed.

 

The majority of our products are manufactured at third party contract manufacturers, with the exception of our products sold in China, which are manufactured in our Suzhou China facility, and a small portion of our top selling products which are manufactured in a recently acquired manufacturing facility located in Lake Forest, California. It is the Company’s intention to expand the capacity of this recently acquired manufacturing facility to produce products for additional international markets. We cannot assure you that our outside manufacturers will continue to reliably supply products to us at the levels of quality, or the quantities, we require, especially under the FDA’s recently adopted cGMP regulations. While we are not presently aware of any current liquidity issues with our suppliers, we cannot assure you that they will not experience financial hardship as a result of the current global financial crisis.

 

Our supply contracts generally have a two-year term. Except for force majeure events such as natural disasters and other acts of God, and non-performance by Herbalife, our manufacturers generally cannot unilaterally terminate these contracts. These contracts can generally be extended by us at the end of the relevant time period and we have exercised this right in the past. Globally we have over 40 suppliers of our products. For our major products, we have both primary and secondary suppliers. Our major suppliers include Nature’s Bounty for protein powders, Fine Foods (Italy) for protein powders and nutritional supplements, Valentine Enterprises for protein powders and PharmaChem Labs for teas and Niteworks^®. In the event any of our third-party manufacturers were to become unable or unwilling to continue to provide us with products in required volumes and at suitable quality levels, we would be required to identify and obtain acceptable replacement manufacturing sources. There is no assurance that we would be able to obtain alternative manufacturing sources on a timely basis. An extended interruption in the supply of products would result in the loss of sales. In addition, any actual or perceived degradation of product quality as a result of reliance on third party manufacturers may have an adverse effect on sales or result in increased product returns and buybacks. Also, as we experience ingredient and product price pressure in the areas of soy, dairy products, plastics, and transportation reflecting global economic trends, we believe that we have the ability to mitigate some of these cost increases through improved optimization of our supply chain coupled with select increases in the retail prices of our products.

 

If we fail to protect our trademarks and tradenames, then our ability to compete could be negatively affected, which would harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

The market for our products depends to a significant extent upon the goodwill associated with our trademark and tradenames. We own, or have licenses to use, the material trademark and trade name rights used in connection with the packaging, marketing and distribution of our products in the markets where those products are sold. Therefore, trademark and trade name protection is important to our business. Although most of our trademarks are registered in the United States and in certain foreign countries in which we operate, we may not be successful in asserting trademark or trade name protection. In addition, the laws of certain foreign countries may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. The loss or infringement of our trademarks or tradenames could impair the goodwill associated with our brands and harm our reputation, which would harm our financial condition and operating results.

Unlike in most of the other markets in which we operate, limited protection of intellectual property is available under Chinese law. Accordingly, we face an increased risk in China that unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain or use our trademarks, copyrights, product formulations or other intellectual property. Further, since Chinese commercial law is relatively undeveloped, we may have limited legal recourse in the event we encounter significant difficulties with intellectual property theft or infringement. As a result, we cannot assure you that we will be able to adequately protect our product formulations or other intellectual property.

 

We permit the limited use of our trademarks by our independent distributors to assist them in the marketing of our products. It is possible that doing so may increase the risk of unauthorized use or misuse of our trademarks in markets where their registration status differs from that asserted by our independent distributors, or they may be used in association with claims or products in a manner not permitted under applicable laws and regulations. Were this to occur it is possible that this could diminish the value of these marks or otherwise impair our further use of these marks.

 

If our distributors fail to comply with labeling laws, then our financial condition and operating results would be harmed.

 

Although the physical labeling of our products is not within the control of our independent distributors, our distributors must nevertheless advertise our products in compliance with the extensive regulations that exist in certain jurisdictions, such as the United States, which considers product advertising to be labeling for regulatory purposes.

 

Our products are sold principally as foods, dietary supplements and cosmetics and are subject to rigorous FDA and related legal regimens limiting the types of therapeutic claims that can be made for our products. The treatment or cure of disease, for example, is not a permitted claim for these products. While we train our distributors and attempt to monitor our distributors’ marketing materials, we cannot ensure that all such materials comply with applicable regulations, including bans on therapeutic claims. If our distributors fail to comply with these restrictions, then we and our distributors could be subjected to claims, financial penalties, mandatory product recalls or relabeling requirements, which could harm our financial condition and operating results. Although we expect that our responsibility for the actions of our independent distributors in such an instance would be dependent on a determination that we either controlled or condoned a noncompliant advertising practice, there can be no assurance that we could not be held vicariously liable for the actions of our independent distributors.

 

If our intellectual property is not adequate to provide us with a competitive advantage or to prevent competitors from replicating our products, or if we infringe the intellectual property rights of others, then our financial condition and operating results would be harmed.

 

Our future success and ability to compete depend upon our ability to timely produce innovative products and product enhancements that motivate our distributors and customers, which we attempt to protect under a combination of copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions. However, our products are generally not patented domestically or abroad, and the legal protections afforded by common law and contractual proprietary rights in our products provide only limited protection and may be time-consuming and expensive to enforce and/or maintain. Further, despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our proprietary rights or from independently developing non-infringing products that are competitive with, equivalent to and/or superior to our products.

 

Monitoring infringement and/or misappropriation of intellectual property can be difficult and expensive, and we may not be able to detect any infringement or misappropriation of our proprietary rights. Even if we do detect infringement or misappropriation of our proprietary rights, litigation to enforce these rights could cause us to divert financial and other resources away from our business operations. Further, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States.

 

Additionally, third parties may claim that products we have independently developed infringe upon their intellectual property rights. For example, in a pending action in the U.S. federal courts, the Adidas companies have alleged that certain uses of Herbalife’s Tri-Leaf device mark upon sports apparel items infringe upon their own leaf mark associated with such goods. We are contesting these claims and do not believe that we are infringing on any

third party intellectual property rights. However, there can be no assurance that one or more of our products will not be found to infringe upon other third party intellectual property rights in the future.

 

Since one of our products constitutes a significant portion of our retail sales, significant decreases in consumer demand for this product or our failure to produce a suitable replacement should we cease offering it would harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

Our Formula 1 meal replacement product constitutes a significant portion of our sales, accounting for approximately 32% of retail sales for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008, and approximately 30% for fiscal year ended December 31, 2007. If consumer demand for this product decreases significantly or we cease offering this product without a suitable replacement, then our financial condition and operating results would be harmed.

 

If we lose the services of members of our senior management team, then our financial condition and operating results could be harmed.

 

We depend on the continued services of our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Michael O. Johnson, and our current senior management team as they work closely with the senior distributor leadership to create an environment of inspiration, motivation and entrepreneurial business success. Although we have entered into employment agreements with certain members of our senior management team, and do not believe that any of them are planning to leave or retire in the near term, we cannot assure you that our senior managers will remain with us. The loss or departure of any member of our senior management team could adversely impact our distributor relations and operating results. If any of these executives do not remain with us, our business could suffer. Also, the loss of key personnel, including our regional and country managers, could negatively impact our ability to implement our business strategy, and our continued success will also be dependent on our ability to retain existing, and attract additional, qualified personnel to meet our needs. We currently do not maintain “key person” life insurance with respect to our senior management team.

 

The covenants in our existing indebtedness limit our discretion with respect to certain business matters, which could limit our ability to pursue certain strategic objectives and in turn harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

Our credit facility contains numerous financial and operating covenants that restrict our and our subsidiaries’ ability to, among other things:

 

 

In addition, our credit facility requires us to meet certain financial ratios and financial conditions. Our ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond our control, including prevailing economic, financial and industry conditions. Failure to comply with these covenants could result in a default causing all amounts to become due and payable under our credit facility, which is secured by substantially all of our assets, against which the lenders thereunder could proceed to foreclose.

If we do not comply with transfer pricing, customs duties, and similar regulations, then we may be subjected to additional taxes, duties, interest and penalties in material amounts, which could harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

As a multinational corporation, in many countries including the United States we are subject to transfer pricing and other tax regulations designed to ensure that our intercompany transactions are consummated at prices that have not been manipulated to produce a desired tax result, that appropriate levels of income are reported as earned by our United States or local entities, and that we are taxed appropriately on such transactions. In addition, our operations are subject to regulations designed to ensure that appropriate levels of customs duties are assessed on the importation of our products. We are currently subject to pending or proposed audits that are at various levels of review, assessment or appeal in a number of jurisdictions involving transfer pricing issues, income taxes, customs duties, value added taxes, withholding taxes, sales and use and other taxes and related interest and penalties in material amounts. For example, we are currently appealing tax assessments in Spain and Brazil. In another matter, in Mexico, we are awaiting a formal administrative assessment to start the judicial appeals process. The likelihood and timing of any such potential assessment is unknown as of the date hereof. The Company believes that it has meritorious defenses. In some circumstances, additional taxes, interest and penalties have been assessed and we will be required to pay the assessments or post surety, in order to challenge the assessments. The imposition of new taxes, even pass-through taxes such as VAT, could have an impact on our perceived product pricing and therefore a potential negative impact on our business. We have reserved in the consolidated financial statements an amount that we believe represents the most likely outcome of the resolution of these disputes, but if we are incorrect in our assessment we may have to pay the full amount asserted which could potentially be material. Ultimate resolution of these matters may take several years, and the outcome is uncertain. If the United States Internal Revenue Service or the taxing authorities of any other jurisdiction were to successfully challenge our transfer pricing practices or our positions regarding the payment of income taxes, customs duties, value added taxes, withholding taxes, sales and use, and other taxes, we could become subject to higher taxes and our earnings would be adversely affected.

 

Changes in tax laws, treaties or regulations, or their interpretation could adversely affect us.

 

A change in applicable tax laws, treaties or regulations or their interpretation could result in a higher effective tax rate on our worldwide earnings and such change could be significant to our financial results. Tax legislative proposals intending to eliminate some perceived tax advantages of companies that have legal domiciles outside the U.S. but have certain U.S. connections have repeatedly been introduced in the U.S. Congress. If these proposals are enacted, the result would increase our effective tax rate and could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations.

 

We may be held responsible for certain taxes or assessments relating to the activities of our distributors, which could harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

Our distributors are subject to taxation, and in some instances, legislation or governmental agencies impose an obligation on us to collect taxes, such as value added taxes, and to maintain appropriate records. In addition, we are subject to the risk in some jurisdictions of being responsible for social security and similar taxes with respect to our distributors. In the event that local laws and regulations or the interpretation of local laws and regulations change to require us to treat our independent distributors as employees, or that our distributors are deemed by local regulatory authorities in one or more of the jurisdictions in which we operate to be our employees rather than independent contractors under existing laws and interpretations, we may be held responsible for social security and related taxes in those jurisdictions, plus any related assessments and penalties, which could harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

We may incur material product liability claims, which could increase our costs and harm our financial condition and operating results.

 

Our products consist of vitamins, minerals and herbs and other ingredients that are classified as foods or dietary supplements and are not subject to pre-market regulatory approval in the United States. Our products could contain contaminated substances, and some of our products contain some ingredients that do not have long histories of human consumption. We conduct limited clinical studies on some key products but not all products. Previously

unknown adverse reactions resulting from human consumption of these ingredients could occur. As a marketer of dietary and nutritional supplements and other products that are ingested by consumers or applied to their bodies, we have been, and may again be, subjected to various product liability claims, including that the products contain contaminants, the products include inadequate instructions as to their uses, or the products include inadequate warnings concerning side effects and interactions with other substances. It is possible that widespread product liability claims could increase our costs, and adversely affect our revenues and operating income. Moreover, liability claims arising from a serious adverse event may increase our costs through higher insurance premiums and deductibles, and may make it more difficult to secure adequate insurance coverage in the future. In addition, our product liability insurance may fail to cover future product liability claims, thereby requiring us to pay substantial monetary damages and adversely affecting our business. Finally, given the higher level of self-insured retentions that we have accepted under our current product liability insurance policies, which are as high as approximately $10 million, in certain cases we may be subject to the full amount of liability associated with any injuries, which could be substantial.

 

Several years ago, a number of states restricted the sale of dietary supplements containing botanical sources of ephedrine alkaloids and on February 6, 2004, the FDA banned the use of such ephedrine alkaloids. Until late 2002, we had sold Thermojetics^® original green herbal tablets, Thermojetics^® green herbal tablets and Thermojetics^® gold herbal tablets, all of which contained ephedrine alkaloids. Accordingly, we run the risk of product liability claims related to the ingestion of ephedrine alkaloids contained in those products. Currently, we have been named as a defendant in product liability lawsuits seeking to link the ingestion of certain of the aforementioned products to subsequent alleged medical problems suffered by plaintiffs. Although we believe that we have meritorious defenses to the allegations contained in these lawsuits, and are vigorously defending these claims, there can be no assurance that we will prevail in our defense of any or all of these matters.

 

We are subject to, among other things, requirements regarding the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting. In connection with these requirements, we conduct regular audits of our business and operations. Our failure to identify or correct deficiencies and areas of weakness in the course of these audits could adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.

 

We are required to comply with various corporate governance and financial reporting requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as new rules and regulations adopted by the SEC, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the New York Stock Exchange. In particular, we are required to include management and auditor reports on the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting as part of our annual reports on Form 10-K, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We expect to continue to spend significant amounts of time and money on compliance with these rules. Our failure to correct any noted weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting could result in the disclosure of material weaknesses which could have a material adverse effect upon the market value of our stock.

 

On a regular and on-going basis, we conduct audits through our internal audit department of various aspects of our business and operations. These internal audits are conducted to insure compliance with our policies and to strengthen our operations and related internal controls. The Audit Committee of our Board of Directors regularly reviews the results of these internal audits and, when appropriate, suggests remedial measures and actions to correct noted deficiencies or strengthen areas of weakness. There can be no assurance that these internal audits will uncover all material deficiencies or areas of weakness in our operations or internal controls. If left undetected and uncorrected, such deficiencies and weaknesses could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

 

From time to time, the results of these internal audits may necessitate that we conduct further investigations into aspects of our business or operations. In addition, our business practices and operations may periodically be investigated by one or more of the many governmental authorities with jurisdiction over our worldwide operations. In the event that these investigations produce unfavorable results, we may be subjected to fines, penalties or loss of licenses or permits needed to operate in certain jurisdictions, any one of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or operating results.

Holders of our common shares may face difficulties in protecting their interests because we are incorporated under Cayman Islands law.

 

Our corporate affairs are governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, by the Companies Law (2009 Revision, as amended), or the Companies Law, and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are not as clearly established as under statutes or judicial precedent in existence in jurisdictions in the United States. Therefore, shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions by our management or board of directors than would shareholders of a corporation incorporated in a jurisdiction in the United States, due to the comparatively less developed nature of Cayman Islands law in this area.

 

Shareholders of Cayman Islands exempted companies such as Herbalife have no general rights under Cayman Islands law to inspect corporate records and accounts or to obtain copies of lists of our shareholders. Our directors have discretion under our articles of association to determine whether or not, and under what conditions, our corporate records may be inspected by our shareholders, but are not obliged to make them available to our shareholders. This may make it more difficult for you to obtain the information needed to establish any facts necessary for a shareholder motion or to solicit proxies from other shareholders in connection with a proxy contest.

 

A shareholder can bring a suit personally where its individual rights have been, or are about to be, infringed. Where an action is brought to redress any loss or damage suffered by us, we would be the proper plaintiff, and a shareholder could not ordinarily maintain an action on our behalf, except where it was permitted by the courts of the Cayman Islands to proceed with a derivative action. Our Cayman Islands counsel, Maples and Calder, is not aware of any reported decisions in relation to a derivative action brought in a Cayman Islands court. However, based on English authorities, which would in all likelihood be of persuasive authority in the Cayman Islands, a shareholder may be permitted to bring a claim derivatively on the Company’s behalf, where:

 

 

Provisions of our articles of association and Cayman Islands corporate law may impede a takeover or make it more difficult for shareholders to change the direction or management of the Company, which could reduce shareholders’ opportunity to influence management of the Company.

 

Our articles of association permit our board of directors to issue preference shares from time to time, with such rights and preferences as they consider appropriate. Our board of directors could authorize the issuance of preference shares with terms and conditions and under circumstances that could have an effect of discouraging a takeover or other transaction.

 

In addition, our articles of association contain certain other provisions which could have an effect of discouraging a takeover or other transaction or preventing or making it more difficult for shareholders to change the direction or management of our Company, including a classified board, the inability of shareholders to act by written consent, a limitation on the ability of shareholders to call special meetings of shareholders and advance notice provisions. As a result, our shareholders may have less input into the management of our Company than they might otherwise have if these provisions were not included in our articles of association.

 

The Cayman Islands have recently introduced provisions to the Companies Law to facilitate mergers and consolidations between Cayman Islands companies and non-Cayman Islands companies. These provisions, contained within Part XVA of the Companies Law, are broadly similar to the merger provisions as provided for under Delaware Law.

 

There are however a number of important differences that could impede a takeover. First, the thresholds for approval of the merger plan by shareholders are higher. The thresholds are (a) a shareholder resolution by majority in number representing 75% in value of the shareholders voting together as one class or (b) if the shares to be issued to each shareholder in the consolidated or surviving company are to have the same rights and economic value as the

shares held in the constituent company, a special resolution of the shareholders (being 662/3% of those present in person or by proxy and voting) voting together as one class.

 

As it is not expected that the shares would have the same rights and economic value following a takeover by way of merger, it is expected that the first test is the one which would commonly apply. This threshold essentially has three requirements: “a majority in number” of the shareholders of the Company must approve the transaction, such approving majority must hold at least 75% “in value” of all the outstanding shares and the shareholders must vote together as one class.

 

Additionally, the consent of each holder of a fixed or floating security interest (in essence a documented security interest as opposed to one arising by operation of law) is required to be obtained unless the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands waives such requirement.

 

The merger provisions contained within Part XVA of the Companies Law do contain shareholder appraisal rights similar to those provided for under Delaware law. Such rights are limited to a merger under Part XVA and do apply to schemes of arrangement as discussed below.

 

The Companies Law also contains separate statutory provisions that provide for the merger, reconstruction and amalgamation of companies. Those are commonly referred to in the Cayman Islands as “schemes of arrangement.”

 

The procedural and legal requirements necessary to consummate these transactions are more rigorous and take longer to complete than the procedures typically required to consummate a merger in the United States. Under Cayman Islands law and practice, a scheme of arrangement in relation to a solvent Cayman Islands company must be approved at a shareholders’ meeting by a majority of each class of the company’s shareholders who are present and voting (either in person or by proxy) at such meeting. The shares voted in favor of the scheme of arrangement must also represent at least 75% of the value of each relevant class of the company’s shareholders present and voting at the meeting. The convening of these meetings and the terms of the amalgamation must also be sanctioned by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. Although there is no requirement to seek the consent of the creditors of the parties involved in the scheme of arrangement, the Grand Court typically seeks to ensure that the creditors have consented to the transfer of their liabilities to the surviving entity or that the scheme of arrangement does not otherwise materially adversely affect creditors’ interests. Furthermore, the court will only approve a scheme of arrangement if it is satisfied that:

 

 

If the scheme of arrangement is approved, the dissenting shareholder would have no rights comparable to appraisal rights, which would otherwise ordinarily be available to dissenting shareholders of U.S. corporations, providing rights to receive payment in cash for the judicially determined value of the shares.

 

In addition, if an offer by a third party to purchase shares in us has been approved by the holders of at least 90% of our outstanding shares (not including such a third party) pursuant to an offer within a four-month period of making such an offer, the purchaser may, during the two months following expiration of the four-month period, require the holders of the remaining shares to transfer their shares on the same terms on which the purchaser acquired the first 90% of our outstanding shares. An objection can be made to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, but this is unlikely to succeed unless there is evidence of fraud, bad faith, collusion or inequitable treatment of the shareholders.

There is uncertainty as to shareholders’ ability to enforce certain foreign civil liabilities in the Cayman Islands.

 

We are incorporated as an exempted company with limited liability under the laws of the Cayman Islands. A material portion of our assets are located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for our shareholders to enforce judgments against us or judgments obtained in U.S. courts predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state of the United States.

 

We have been advised by our Cayman Islands counsel, Maples and Calder, that although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will — based on the principle that a judgment by a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given — recognize and enforce a foreign judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction if such judgment is final, for a liquidated sum, not in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, is not inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matters, and was not obtained in a manner, and is not of a kind, the enforcement of which is contrary to the public policy of the Cayman Islands. There is doubt, however, as to whether the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands will (1) recognize or enforce judgments of U.S. courts predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state of the United States, or (2) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, impose liabilities predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state of the United States, on the grounds that such provisions are penal in nature.

 

The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands may stay proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.

 

 

None.

 

 

We lease all of our physical properties. During 2008, we relocated many of our executive offices to the LA Live complex in downtown Los Angeles, California, where we currently occupy approximately 65,000 square feet under a lease expiring in 2018. We also lease approximately 316,000 square feet of general office space in Torrance, California, with terms expiring in 2016, for our North America and South America regional headquarters, including some of our corporate support functions. Additionally, we lease warehouse facilities in Los Angeles, California and Memphis, Tennessee of approximately 82,000 square feet and 130,000 square feet, respectively. The Los Angeles and Memphis lease agreements have terms through June 2011 and December 2016, respectively. In Lake Forest, California, we also lease warehouse, manufacturing plant and office space of approximately 80,000 square feet under a lease expiring in 2019 for which we have a renewal option. In Venray, Netherlands, we lease our European centralized warehouse of approximately 150,000 square feet under an arrangement expiring in June 2020 for which we have a renewal option. In Guadalajara, Mexico we lease approximately 82,000 square feet of warehouse space with the term of the lease expiring in January 2015. We also lease warehouse, manufacturing plant and office space in a majority of our other geographic areas of operation. We believe that our existing facilities are adequate to meet our current requirements and that comparable space is readily available at each of these locations.

 

 

The Company is from time to time engaged in routine litigation. The Company regularly reviews all pending litigation matters in which it is involved and establishes reserves deemed appropriate by management for these litigation matters when a probable loss estimate can be made.

 

As a marketer of dietary and nutritional supplements and other products that are ingested by consumers or applied to their bodies, the Company has been and is currently subjected to various product liability claims. The effects of these claims to date have not been material to the Company, and the reasonably possible range of exposure on currently existing claims is not material to the Company. The Company believes that it has meritorious defenses

to the allegations contained in the lawsuits. The Company currently maintains product liability insurance with an annual deductible of $10 million.

 

On April 16, 2007, Herbalife International of America, Inc. filed a Complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against certain former Herbalife distributors who had left the Company to join a competitor. The Complaint alleged breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, intentional interference with contract, unfair competition, constructive trust and fraud and seeks monetary damages, attorney’s fees and injunctive relief. (Herbalife International of America, Inc. v. Robert E. Ford, et al) The court entered a Preliminary Injunction against the defendants enjoining them from further use and/or misappropriation of the Company’s trade secrets on December 11, 2007. Defendants appealed the court’s entry of the Preliminary Injunction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. That court affirmed, in relevant part, the Preliminary Injunction. On December 3, 2007, the defendants filed a counterclaim alleging that the Company had engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices, intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, false advertising and that the Company was an endless chain scheme in violation of California law and seeking restitution, contract rescission and an injunction. Both sides engaged in discovery and filed cross motions for Summary Judgment. On August 25, 2009, the court granted partial summary judgment for Herbalife on all of defendants’ claims except the claim that the Company is an endless chain scheme which under applicable law is a question of fact that can only be determined at trial. The court denied defendants’ motion for Summary Judgment on Herbalife’s claims for misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of contract. On December 4, 2009, the Court ordered mediation to occur on February 8, 2010 and set a schedule for Herbalife’s motion for summary judgment to dismiss the sole remaining counterclaim by the defendants, with a hearing scheduled for March 9, 2010 if all matters were not resolved before that date. The mediation occurred but did not resolve any issues. No date has been set for trial. The Company believes that there is merit to its remaining claims for relief and that it has meritorious defenses to the remaining counterclaim.

 

Certain of the Company’s subsidiaries have been subject to tax audits by governmental authorities in their respective countries. In certain of these tax audits, governmental authorities are proposing that significant amounts of additional taxes and related interest and penalties are due. The Company and its tax advisors believe that there are substantial defenses to their allegations that additional taxes are owed, and the Company is vigorously contesting the additional proposed taxes and related charges.

 

These matters may take several years to resolve. While the Company believes it has meritorious defenses, it cannot be sure of their ultimate resolution. Although the Company has reserved an amount that the Company believes represents the most likely outcome of the resolution of these disputes, if the Company is incorrect in the assessment the Company may have to record additional expenses.

 

 

None.

 

 

Information with Respect to our Common Shares

 

Our common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, and trade under the symbol “HLF.” The following table sets forth the range of the high and low sales prices for our common shares in each of the relevant fiscal quarters presented, based upon quotations on the NYSE consolidated transaction reporting system.

 

 

 

The market price of our common shares is subject to fluctuations in response to variations in our quarterly operating results, general trends in the market for our products and product candidates, economic and currency exchange issues in the foreign markets in which we operate as well as other factors, many of which are not within our control. In addition, broad market fluctuations, as well as general economic, business and political conditions may adversely affect the market for our common shares, regardless of our actual or projected performance.

 

The closing price of our common shares on February 18, 2010, was $40.90. The approximate number of holders of record of our common shares as of February 18, 2010 was 903. This number of holders of record does not represent the actual number of beneficial owners of our common shares because shares are frequently held in “street name” by securities dealers and others for the benefit of individual owners who have the right to vote their shares.

Performance Graph

 

Our common shares began trading on the NYSE on December 16, 2004. Set forth below is information comparing the cumulative total shareholder return and share price appreciation plus dividends on our common shares with the cumulative total return of the S&P 500 Index and a market weighted index of publicly traded peers over the five year period ended December 31, 2009. The graph assumes that $100 is invested in each of our common shares, the S&P 500 Index and the index of publicly traded peers on December 31, 2004 and that all dividends were reinvested. The publicly traded companies in the peer group are Avon Products, Inc., Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc., Tupperware Corporation, Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., USANA Health Sciences Inc., Weight Watchers International, Inc. and Mannatech, Inc.

 

Comparison of Cumulative Five Year Total Return

 

 

 

Information with Respect to Dividends

 

During the second quarter of 2007, the Company’s board of directors adopted a regular quarterly cash dividend program. Since, the adoption of the dividend program, the Company’s board of directors have authorized a $0.20 per common share dividend each quarter. The aggregate amount of dividends paid and declared during fiscal year 2009, 2008 and 2007 was approximately $48.7 million, $50.7 million and $41.5 million, respectively.

 

The declaration of future dividends is subject to the discretion of the Company’s board of directors and will depend upon various factors, including the Company’s net earnings, financial condition, restrictions imposed by the Company’s credit agreement, cash requirements, future prospects and other factors deemed relevant by the board of directors. For example, the senior credit facility entered into on July 21, 2006, as amended, permits payments of dividends as long as no default or event of default exists and the sum of the amounts paid with respect to dividends and share repurchases does not exceed the sum of $450.0 million plus seventy five percent of cumulative consolidated net income from the first quarter of 2007 to the last day of the quarter most recently ended prior to the date of dividend. There is no guarantee that the board of directors will not terminate the quarterly dividend program.

 

Information with Respect to Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

 

The following table sets forth as of December 31, 2009, information with respect to (a) number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights, (b) the weighted average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights and (c) the number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans.

 

 

 

 

Information with Respect to Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer

 

On April 17, 2009, the Company’s share repurchase program adopted on April 18, 2007 expired pursuant to its terms. On April 30, 2009, the Company announced that its board of directors authorized a new program for the Company to repurchase up to $300 million of Herbalife common shares during the next two years, at such times and prices as determined by the Company’s management. As of December 31, 2009, the approximate dollar value of shares that could be repurchased under the Company’s share repurchase program was approximately $226.8 million.

 

The following is a summary of our repurchases of common shares during the three months ended December 31, 2009:

 

 

The following table sets forth certain of our historical financial data. We have derived the selected historical consolidated financial data for the years ended December 31, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006 and 2005 from our audited financial statements and the related notes. Not all periods shown below are discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The selected consolidated historical financial data set forth below are not necessarily indicative of the results of future operations and should be read in conjunction with the discussion under Item 7 — Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and the historical consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included elsewhere in this document.

 

 

 

 

 

Retail sales data is referred to in Item 7 — Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. Our use of retail sales reflect the fundamental role of “retail sales” in our accounting systems, internal controls and operations, including the basis upon which the distributors are being paid. In addition, information in daily and monthly reports reviewed by our management includes retail sales data.

 

The following represents the reconciliation of retail sales to net sales for each of the periods set forth above:

 

 

 

 

 

You should read the following discussion and analysis in conjunction with Item 6 — Selected Financial Data and our consolidated financial statements and related notes, each included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

Overview

 

We are a global network marketing company that sells weight management products, nutritional supplements, energy, sports & fitness products and personal care products. We pursue our mission of “changing people’s lives” by providing a financially rewarding business opportunity to distributors and quality products to distributors and their customers who seek a healthy lifestyle. We are one of the largest network marketing companies in the world with net sales of approximately $2.3 billion for the year ended December 31, 2009. As of December 31, 2009, we sold our products in 72 countries through a network of approximately 2.0 million independent distributors. In China, we sell our products through retail stores, sales representatives, sales employees and licensed business providers. We believe the quality of our products and the effectiveness of our distribution network, coupled with geographic expansion, have been the primary reasons for our success throughout our 30-year operating history.

 

Our products are grouped in four principal categories: weight management, targeted nutrition, energy, sports & fitness and Outer Nutrition, along with literature and promotional items. Our products are often sold in programs that are comprised of a series of related products and literature designed to simplify weight management and nutrition for consumers and maximize our distributors’ cross-selling opportunities.

 

Industry-wide factors that affect us and our competitors include the increasing prevalence of obesity and the aging of the worldwide population, which are driving demand for nutrition and wellness-related products along with the global increase in under and unemployment which can affect the recruitment and retention of distributors.

 

While we are closely monitoring the current global economic crisis, the Company remains focused on the opportunities and challenges in retailing of our products, recruiting and retaining distributors, improving distributor productivity, opening new markets, further penetrating existing markets including China, the U.S., Brazil, Mexico and Russia, globalizing successful distributor methods of operation such as Nutrition Clubs and Weight Loss Challenges, introducing new products and globalizing existing products, developing niche market segments and further investing in our infrastructure. Management remains intently focused on the Venezuela market and especially the limited ability to repatriate cash at the official exchange rate.

 

During the first quarter of 2009, we changed our geographic regions, designating Mexico as its own region and combining South America and Central America into a single region. These changes in geographic regions were implemented to create growth opportunities for distributors, support faster decision making across the organization by reducing the number of layers of management, improve the sharing of ideas and tools and accelerate growth in high potential markets. Under the new geographic regions, we report revenue from:

 

 

Historical information presented in this Annual Report on Form 10-K relating to our geographic regions has been reclassified to conform to our current geographic presentation.

Volume Points by Geographic Region

 

A key non-financial measure we focus on is Volume Points on a Royalty Basis, or Volume Points, which is essentially our weighted unit measure of product sales volume. It is a useful measure that we rely on as it excludes the impact of foreign currency fluctuations and ignores the differences generated by varying retail pricing across geographic markets. The Volume Point measure, in the aggregate and in each region, can be a measure of our sales volume as well as of sales volume trends. In general, an increase in Volume Points in a particular geographic region or country indicates an increase in our sales volume which results in an increase in our local currency net sales; a decrease in Volume Points in a particular geographic region or country indicates a decrease in our sales volume, which results in decreasing local currency net sales.

 

 

Number of New Sales Leaders by Geographic Region during the Reporting Period

 

Another key non-financial measure on which we focus is the number of distributors qualified as new sales leaders under our compensation system. Excluding China, distributors qualify for sales leader status based on their Volume Points. The changes in the total number of sales leaders or changes in the productivity of sales leaders may cause Volume Points to increase or decrease. The fluctuation in the number of new sales leaders is a general indicator of the level of distributor recruitment.

 

 

Number of Sales Leaders and Retention Rates by Geographic Region as of Re-qualification Period

 

Our compensation system requires each sales leader to re-qualify for such status each year, prior to February, in order to maintain their 50% discount on product and be eligible to receive royalty payments. In February of each year, we demote from the rank of sales leader those distributors who did not satisfy the re-qualification requirements

during the preceding twelve months. The re-qualification requirement does not apply to new sales leaders (i.e. those who became sales leaders subsequent to the January re-qualification of the prior year).

 

 

The distributor statistics below further highlight the calculation for retention.

 

 

The table below reflects the number of sales leaders as of February of the year indicated (subsequent to the annual re-qualification date) and sales leader retention rate by year and by region.

 

 

The number of sales leaders by geographic region as of the quarterly reporting dates will normally be higher than the number of sales leaders by geographic region as of the re-qualification period because sales leaders who do not re-qualify during the relevant twelve-month period will be deleted from the rank of sales leader the following February. Since sales leaders purchase most of our products for resale to other distributors and consumers, comparisons of sales leader totals on a year-to-year basis are indicators of our recruitment and retention efforts in different geographic regions.

 

The value of the average monthly purchase of Herbalife products by our sales leaders has remained relatively constant over time. Consequently, increases in our sales are driven by our retention of sales leaders, our recruitment and retention of distributors and by our distributors’ increased adoption of daily consumption business methods.

 

We provide distributors with products, support materials, training, special events and a competitive compensation program. If a distributor wants to pursue the Herbalife business opportunity, the distributor is responsible for growing his or her business and personally pays for the sales activities related to attracting new customers and recruiting distributors by hosting events such as Herbalife Opportunity Meetings or Success Training Seminars; by advertising Herbalife’s products; by purchasing and using promotional materials such as t-shirts, buttons and caps; by utilizing and paying for direct mail and print material such as brochures, flyers, catalogs, business cards, posters and banners and telephone book listings; by purchasing inventory for sale or use as samples; and by training, mentoring and following up (in person or via the phone or internet) with customers and recruits on how to use Herbalife products and/or pursue the Herbalife business opportunity.

Presentation

 

“Retail sales” represent the gross sales amounts on our invoices to distributors before distributor allowances, as defined below, and “net sales,” which reflect distribution allowances and handling and freight income, represent what we collect and recognize as net sales in our financial statements. We discuss retail sales because of its fundamental role in our compensation systems, internal controls and operations, including its role as the basis upon which distributor discounts, royalties and bonuses are awarded. In addition, it is used as the basis for certain information included in daily and monthly reports reviewed by our management. However, such a measure is not in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP. You should not consider retail sales in isolation from, nor as a substitute for, net sales and other consolidated income or cash flow statement data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, or as a measure of profitability or liquidity. A reconciliation of net sales to retail sales is presented below under “Results of Operations.” “Product sales” represent the actual product purchase price paid to us by our distributors, after giving effect to distributor discounts referred to as “distributor allowances,” which approximate 50% of retail sales prices. Distributor allowances as a percentage of retail sales may vary by country depending upon regulatory restrictions that limit or otherwise restrict distributor allowances.

 

Our international operations have provided and will continue to provide a significant portion of our total net sales. As a result, total net sales will continue to be affected by changes in the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies. In order to provide a framework for assessing how our underlying businesses performed excluding the effect of foreign currency fluctuations, we compare the percent change in the net sales from one period to another period in this Annual Report on Form 10K using “net sales in local currency” disclosure. Such net sales in local currency is not a U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, financial measure. Net sales in local currency removes from net sales in U.S. dollars the impact of changes in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the functional currencies of our foreign subsidiaries, by translating the current period net sales into U.S. dollars using the same foreign currency exchange rates that were used to translate the net sales for the previous period. We believe presenting net sales in local currency basis is useful to investors because it allows a more meaningful comparison of the net sales of our foreign operations from period to period. However, net sales in local currency measures should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to net sales in U.S. dollars measures that reflect current period exchange rates, or to other financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.

 

Our “gross profit” consists of net sales less “cost of sales,” which represents the prices we pay to our raw material suppliers and manufacturers of our products as well as costs related to product shipments, duties and tariffs, freight expenses relating to shipment of products to distributors and importers and similar expenses.

 

“Royalty overrides” are our most significant expense and consist of:

 

 

Royalty overrides are generally earned based on retail sales and provide potential earnings to distributors of up to 23% of retail sales or approximately 33% of our net sales. Royalty overrides together with distributor allowances of up to 50% represent the potential earnings to distributors of up to approximately 73% of retail sales. The compensation to distributors is generally for the development, retention and improved productivity of their distributor sales organizations and is paid to several levels of distributors on each sale. Due to restrictions on direct selling in China, our full-time employed sales representatives in China are compensated with wages, bonuses and benefits and our licensed business providers in China are compensated with service fees instead of the distributor allowances and royalty overrides utilized in our traditional marketing program used in our other five regions. Because of local country regulatory constraints, we may be required to modify our typical distributor incentive plans as described above. Consequently, the total distributor discount percentage may vary over time. We also offer reduced distributor allowances and pay reduced royalty overrides with respect to certain products worldwide.

Our “operating margins” consist of net sales less cost of sales and royalty overrides.

 

“Selling, general and administrative expenses” represent our operating expenses, components of which include labor and benefits, sales events, professional fees, travel and entertainment, distributor marketing, occupancy costs, communication costs, bank fees, depreciation and amortization, foreign exchange gains and losses and other miscellaneous operating expenses.

 

Most of our sales to distributors outside the United States are made in the respective local currencies. In preparing our financial statements, we translate revenues into U.S. dollars using average exchange rates. Additionally, the majority of our purchases from our suppliers generally are made in U.S. dollars. Consequently, a strengthening of the U.S. dollar versus a foreign currency can have a negative impact on our reported sales and operating margins and can generate transaction losses on intercompany transactions. Throughout the last five years, foreign currency exchange rates have fluctuated significantly. From time to time, we enter into foreign exchange forward and option contracts to partially mitigate our foreign currency exchange risk as discussed in further detail in Item 7A — Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.

 

Summary Financial Results

 

Net sales for the year ended December 31, 2009 decreased 1.5% to $2,324.6 million as compared to $2,359.2 million in 2008. The decrease was primarily due to the unfavorable impact of currency fluctuations of $155.6 million. In local currency, net sales for the year ended December 31, 2009 increased 5.1%, as compared to the same period in 2008. For the year ended December 31, 2009, net sales in U.S. dollars in our top ten countries including the U.S., Brazil, Taiwan, China, Italy, South Korea, Venezuela and Malaysia increased 7.4%, 12.2%, 28.0%, 5.0%, 5.2%, 56.9%, 6.9% and 30.8%, respectively, as compared to the same period in 2008, while Mexico and Japan, decreased 25.3% and 14.5%, respectively, as compared to the same period in 2008. The increase in net sales in most of our top markets was mainly due to the successful conversions to daily consumption business models, branding activities and increased distributor recruiting. In Mexico, the negative impact of the Value Added Tax, or VAT, that has been levied by the Mexican government on the import and resale of certain nutrition products, which we began collecting from our distributors during the third quarter of 2008 contributed to the decline in net sales and distributor and sales leader recruiting. In Japan, lower net sales were mainly due to decline in distributor recruiting.

 

Net income for the year ended December 31, 2009 decreased 8.1% to $203.3 million, or $3.22 per diluted share, compared to $221.2 million, or $3.36 per diluted share, for the same period in 2008. The decrease was primarily driven by currency related revenue declines, higher cost of goods sold, depreciation expense, salaries and benefits, and advertising and promotion expense, partially offset by lower professional fees, sales event costs and interest expense and lower effective tax rate.

 

Net income for the year ended December 31, 2009 included a $12.2 million unfavorable after tax impact (net of $6.6 million tax benefit) related to incremental U.S. dollar cost of imports into Venezuela at the unfavorable parallel market exchange rate rather than the official currency exchange rate; a $0.9 million unfavorable after tax impact (net of $0.4 million tax benefit) in connection with our restructuring activities; and a $3.8 million net favorable impact to income taxes from the expiration of certain statute of limitations offset by a charge for an international income tax audit settlement. Net income for the year ended December 31, 2008 included a $4.8 million unfavorable after tax impact related to restructuring activities (net of $1.9 million tax benefit) and a $6.1 million valuation allowance on deferred tax asset for deferred interest.

 

Results of Operations

 

Our results of operations for the periods below are not necessarily indicative of results of operations for future periods, which depend upon numerous factors, including our ability to recruit new distributors and retain existing distributors, open new markets, further penetrate existing markets, introduce new products and programs that will help our distributors increase their retail efforts and develop niche market segments.

The following table sets forth selected results of our operations expressed as a percentage of net sales for the periods indicated.

 

 

 

 

Year ended December 31, 2009 compared to year ended December 31, 2008

 

Net Sales

 

The following chart reconciles retail sales to net sales:

 

Sales by Geographic Region