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Le Château – Annual General Meeting

28 Jun '06
4 min read

At today's annual general meeting of trendy clothing retailer Le Château Inc, Chairman and CEO Herschel Segal told shareholders that, by all financial measures, 2005 was a year of unprecedented success for the company.

“We continued to hold our traditionally strong position in the middle of the retail spectrum between big box stores and specialty boutiques, without ceding ground to either group. We did so by holding fast to our approach of offering design-driven fashion at affordable prices, and by being opportunistic - in 2005 we recognized and quickly seized opportunities in menswear, accessories, and footwear,” Segal added.

Several factors contributed to the financial accomplishments of 2005, including: the intensification of the company's multi-generational appeal; accelerated expansion into secondary markets; the increase in average square footage of stores; proprietary information technology which sped up reaction time and rendered domestic manufacturing capability even more of an advantage; and improved global sourcing.

Sales for the year ended January 28th 2006 increased 15.7 percent to reach a record level of $279.1 million and comparable store sales increased 11.2 percent over the same period a year ago. Earnings before income taxes were $36.0 million, up 47.8 percent from $24.3 million in 2004 and net earnings increased 48 percent to $23.5 million or $3.95 per share (basic) from $15.9 million or $2.96 per share (basic) in 2004.

In response to the company's improving financial results and position, the Board of Directors approved two dividend increases during the year. The first was a 14 percent increase in September 2005, increasing the rate from $0.175 per share to $0.20 per share. The second was a 25 percent increase in December 2005, increasing the rate from $0.20 per share to $0.25 per share, or $1.00 per share on an annualized basis.

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