Net earnings for the First Quarter decreased by 15.2% to $5.0 million, or $0.56 per diluted share, compared to $5.9 million, or $0.67 per diluted share in the year ago period.
Russell J. Riopelle, Chief Financial Officer, added, "Total royalty revenues from our Cherokee brand were down 2.6% in our First Quarter as compared to the first quarter of last year, primarily due to the 8.1% royalty revenue decline at Target during this period. However, royalty revenues from Tesco for our First Quarter grew at a 17.8% rate for our Cherokee brand throughout the Tesco territories, and we continue to focus on executing our 'World Brand' strategy for Cherokee."
"We again finished the quarter in another very strong cash position, and in addition to the $0.75 per share dividend paid to shareholders in March, we will pay another dividend of $0.75 per share on June 15th, evidencing continued execution of our goal of returning profits to shareholders."
Robert Margolis, Chairman and CEO, said, "As a result of the sale/termination of our Mossimo finders agreement last October, along with our termination of the Carrefour agreement, lower royalty revenues are to be expected until we can replace those royalty streams with new licensing agreements. In any event, we are pleased with the large cash position which resulted from the Mossimo transaction."
"We are diligently working to find new licensing agreements for brands we own and represent, and hope to be able to announce some new agreements later this year. We look forward to continuing to execute strategies designed to increase value for our shareholders during this transitional year."
Howard Siegel, President of Cherokee, stated, "We are pleased to report another record quarter of growth in our international royalty revenues as we continue to expand and diversify the business and pursue our 'World Branding' strategy."
"Our existing Cherokee, Sideout and Carole Little license agreements now include over 30 countries around the world in which our licensees are either selling products with our brands, or where they may expand to in the future. We are pleased with the continued geographical diversification of our revenue mix, and look forward to continued global expansion of our brands."
marketing@alchempro.com
