Finlay First Quarter Sales $192.1 Million, $5.3 million in Losses
May 21, 06
Finlay Enterprises' first quarter sales totaled $192.1 million compared to $170.5 million in the first quarter of 2005. Carlyle contributed sales of $17.5 million in the current quarter. The figures exclude the results of the 62 doors that closed during the quarter as a result of the Federated and May merger.
Finlay, a retailer of fine jewelry and the largest operator of licensed fine jewelry departments in U.S. department stores, reported a loss of $5.3 million compared to a $3.9 million loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2005.
Income from operations before depreciation and amortization expenses (EBITDA) for the first quarter totaled $1.7 million, compared to $2.3 million in the prior year period.
Sales for the first quarter ended April 29, 2006 totaled $159.3 million compared to $139.7 million in the first quarter of 2005 for all 194 stores. Comparable department sales (departments open for the same months during the comparable period) for the first quarter increased 1.1percent.
Finlay said it believes including all closing doors is useful in evaluating the company's ongoing financial results
On this basis the company reported a loss from continuing operations of $4.6 million, compared to a loss of $5.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2005. EBITDA for the first quarter totaled $1.5 million, compared to a loss of $0.5 million in the prior year period.
It estimates the calendar shift associated with Mother's Day falling a week later this year had an approximate 2 percent negative impact on first quarter comparable department sales and will benefit the second quarter by a similar amount.
Arthur E. Reiner, Chairman and CEO of Finlay Enterprises, said, "As anticipated, our core business remains strong and has shown signs of sustained growth and improved earnings. More importantly, we were able to generate this level of business during a time when our team was faced with the challenge of closing 62 doors in the first quarter and transitioning an additional 132 doors to Federated in the second quarter."
He added that their approach to managing operating expenses and inventory levels resulted in a 10 percent reduction of total inventory in Finlay's continuing business, excluding Carlyle.
The company said it expects a second quarter loss of between $0.45 and $0.50 per share for the second quarter, based on comparable store sales in the range of 3.0 percent - 3.5 percent.
Including discontinued operations, the company estimates a net loss of between $0.60 and $0.70 per share, based on a consolidated comparable store sales decrease between 4 percent and 5 percent.