George R. Remeta, the Company's Vice Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer, stated, "They are quite pleased that during the quarter they experienced very strong full price selling and exceeded their sales plan for the quarter. This resulted in a dramatic decline in clearance inventory levels at the end of the quarter and a corresponding 11 percent decline in total inventory levels versus last year on a cost per square foot basis."
Net income for the second quarter includes certain offsetting special items. First, in the Stanford wage and hour class action in California, the Court approved the fairness of the terms of the settlement agreement, which led to a $0.5 million partial reversal of expense that was accrued in prior years for the anticipated settlement costs. Separately, $0.5 million of non-cash expense was incurred as a result of an increase in the market value of the Company stock held in the Company's Supplemental Retirement Savings Plan ("SRSP"). It is important to note that recent changes to the SRSP will eliminate this unfavorable accounting treatment in the future.
United Retail Group, Inc. invites investors to listen to a broadcast of the Company's conference call to discuss second quarter results as well as ongoing corporate developments. The call will be broadcast live over the Internet today at 11:30 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) and can be accessed by logging on to http://www.vcall.com. Raphael Benaroya, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and George R. Remeta, Vice Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer, will host the call. An online archive of the broadcast will be available within one hour of the completion of the call and will be accessible at http://www.vcall.com until August 31, 2005.
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