Funded Debt and Interest Expense:
The Company's funded debt at June 30, 2008 was $101.4 million versus $102.7 million at June 30, 2007. Interest expense decreased to $2.4 million for the second quarter of 2008 versus $3.3 million for the same period last year. The decrease in interest expense was primarily due to the write off of prepaid financing costs totaling $0.8 million related to the refinancing of the company's term loans in the second quarter of 2007.
Inventory:
Inventory increased $1.5 million, or 1.9%, to $85.5 million at June 30, 2008 compared with $84.0 million on the same date a year ago.
Mr. Brooks concluded, “We feel confident that our recent initiatives will enable us to post continued year-over-year margin improvement and drive increased profitability over the remainder of this year even though our top-line will be challenged. Longer-term, we are optimistic that our portfolio of company owned and licensed brands provide us with compelling growth prospects into the future.”