EL PASO, United States — Consumer product and appliance maker Helen of Troy Ltd. said on Monday it was exploring a sale of its ill-performing personal care business that includes Pert shampoo, Revlon Hair Tools, Sure and Brut perfume brands.

The company said a divestiture would allow it to focus on core brands such as Honeywell air purifiers and OXO kitchenware.

The announcement comes a day after the Wall Street Journal reported that a sale of the company's beauty business, which houses the personal care arm, could fetch about $300 million.

The beauty division racked up about $100 million in sales in the last reported quarter ended November 30, a 3 percent decline from year earlier. Sales in the personal care business has been suffering since at least 2015.

Helen of Troy, which has a market capitalisation of $2.83 billion, is just the latest company to look to offload its personal care business. Nestlé in September said it was looking to divest its skin health division.

Shares of the company rose about 1 percent to $111.52 in morning trading.

By Uday Sampath; editor: Shinjini Ganguli.