Earnings!!! Earnings!!! Earnings!!!
Here it is. Record profits. Record earnings. Get set for record growth.
biz.yahoo.com
Tuesday September 28, 1:45 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: The Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Inc.
The Vermont Teddy Bear Co. Posts
$1.7 million Profit, Plans to add Production Facility in
Newport, VT
SHELBURNE, Vt., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Inc. (Nasdaq:
BEAR - news) announced today a net profit to common stockholders for the fiscal year ended June 0, 1999 of $1.7 million or 32 cents per basic common share or 22 cents per diluted common share, as compared to a net loss in the prior year of $1.8 million or 34 cents per diluted common share. Company revenues for the year ended June 30, 1999 increased 25% to a record level of $21.6 million, from $17.2 million for the year ended June 30, 1998. Also the Company announced today that it is negotiating a lease for 12,000 square feet of industrial space in Newport, Vermont, where the Company intends to open a satellite teddy bear production operation on or about November 1 to meet increased demand for its Vermont-made teddy bears.
``Positioning our Bear-Gram gift delivery service as a creative alternative to flowers, we have figured out how to make the phone ring and the mouse click from all over the country,' said President Elisabeth Robert. ``Now we are in a great race to keep up with growth. Perhaps the best news is we ended this extraordinary year with a much stronger balance sheet and over $5 million in cash to support this growth.'
Driving the $4.4 million or 25% increase in revenues for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1999 is the Company's continued national expansion of its direct response radio campaign combined with increased sales on the Company's popular website www.vermontteddybear.com. The Company advertised on 275 stations in 50 radio markets during the year ended June 30, 1999, as compared to 150 stations in 44 markets in the prior year. The number of unique visitors to the Company's website increased to over 1.2 million during fiscal 1999, more than three times the number in 1998. And Bear-Gram orders placed online reached 25% of total Bear-Gram orders in June 1999 up from 10% in June 1998. Sales to the corporate affinity and wholesale markets, including sales of new imported teddy bear products designed by the Company for customers such as Novartis, Inc., Summit Bank, and Zany Brainy©, Inc., generated $900,000 of additional revenues in fiscal 1999. These new programs more than offset a $700,000 reduction in retail revenues related to closing the Company's remaining satellite retail stores.
With the revenue increase, the Company realized a $220,000 reduction in marketing and selling costs, which decreased to 35.4% of net revenues in fiscal 1999 from 45.7% in fiscal 1998. Increases in Bear-Gram radio advertising, call center and customer service costs associated with increased order volume, and design and selling costs attributed to the Company's new corporate and wholesale programs were more than offset by a $960,000 decrease in retail operating expenses attributed to the elimination of offsite stores.
The Company also benefited from higher gross margins and lower general and administrative costs as a percentage of net revenues in fiscal 1999. Gross margins increased to 60.9% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1999 from 57.0% in the prior year as the Company introduced new products with higher margins, realized lower costs on imported raw materials and teddy bear outfits, and eliminated the distribution infrastructure for offsite stores. General and administrative expenses remained in line with the prior year but decreased as a percentage of net revenues to 14.3% in fiscal 1999 from 17.6% in 1998.
Commenting on plans to open a factory in Newport, Vermont, Robert remarked, ``The combination of very low unemployment in our area and the growth in demand for our Vermont-made teddy bears has made it necessary for us to look elsewhere to supplement the production capacity of our Shelburne factory. We are excited to be able to locate a sewing factory in a region of Vermont which has been a center of the cut and sew industry in Vermont and consequently has a large skilled workforce to assist the Company in reaching its production goals.' Over the past year the Company
increased its rate of production of Vermont-made teddy bears from 200,000 annually to nearly 260,000. In the year ahead the Company plans to make approximately 350,000 teddy bears.
Director of Manufacturing, Cathy Carlisle, stated, ``We are very pleased with the initial response to our recruitment efforts in Newport by people with industrial sewing experience. We expect to meet our target of having 16 to 20 employees in Newport soon after our projected start date of November 1, 1999.
The foregoing can be interpreted as including forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual future results may differ materially from those suggested by the statements above.
The Vermont Teddy Bear Company is the largest manufacturer of teddy bears in North America, making more than 250,000 bears annually at its Shelburne, Vermont factory and selling them out of its retail store or via its Bear-Gram gift delivery service. To place a Bear-Gram order, customers call 1-800-829- BEAR or log onto the Company's popular website at www.vermontteddybear.com, choose a bear and personalize it to suit a special life event, occasion or holiday.
THE VERMONT TEDDY BEAR CO., INC.
Condensed Statements of Income
For the Three and Twelve Months Ended June 30, 1999 and 1998
Three Months Ended (Unaudited) Twelve Months Ended
June 30,1999 June 30,1998 June 30,1999 June 30,1998
Net Revenues $6,451,695 $4,393,499 $21,583,885 $17,207,543
Cost of Goods Sold 2,665,991 1,915,626 8,432,829 7,397,450
Gross Profit 3,785,704 2,477,873 13,151,056 9,810,093
Selling, General and
Administrative Expenses:
Selling Expenses 2,125,397 1,837,784 7,646,996 7,866,843
General and
Administrative
Expenses 864,345 794,961 3,082,935 3,031,716
2,989,742 2,632,745 10,729,931 10,898,559
Operating Income
(Loss) 795,962 (154,872) 2,421,125 (1,088,466)
Interest Income 28,316 (3,689) 71,828 26,126
Interest Expense (147,734) (161,966) (614,390) (650,572)
Other Income (1,559) 13,032 (443) 29,243
Income(Loss) Before
Income Taxes 674,985 (307,495) 1,878,120 (1,683,669)
Income Tax Provision (35,000) 3,583 (35,000) 0
Net Income(Loss) 639,985 (303,912) 1,843,120 (1,683,669)
Preferred Stock
Dividends (27,000) (18,000) (96,000) (72,000)
Accretion of Warrants
Issued in connection
with Series C preferred
stock (13,623) 0 (36,328) 0
Net Income (Loss)-Common
Stockholders 599,362 (321,912) 1,710,792 (1,755,669)
Basic Net Income(Loss)
Per Common Share $0.11 ($0.06) $0.32 ($0.34)
Diluted Net Income
(Loss) Per Common Share $0.07 ($0.06) $0.22 ($0.34)
Weighted Average Number
of Shares
Outstanding 5,692,857 5,179,692 5,396,148 5,172,475
Weighted Average Number
of Diluted Common Shares
Outstanding 8,861,293 5,179,682 7,846,926 5,172,475
Condensed Balance Sheet Information
June 30, June 30,
1999 1998
Cash and Cash Equivalents $5,342,483 1,527,052
Current Assets 8,337,175 4,652,267
Total Assets 17,555,228 14,487,352
Current Liabilities 3,828,788 3,264,707
Long Term Debt 5,697,942 6,086,499
Total Liabilities 9,677,135 9,584,409
Advances from Series B
Preferred stockholders 493,508 --
Series C Preferred 387,879 --
Stockholders'
Equity 6,996,706 4,902,943
SOURCE: The Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Inc. |
