West 49 Q1 net loss widens despite higher sales

12 Jun '06

4 min read

Comparable store sales for the quarter grew by 8.5 percent compared to the same period of last year, with the West 49 banner experiencing growth of 8.2 percent in comparable store sales.

Gross margin for the quarter increased by 143.8 percent to $7.8 million from $3.2 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2006. As a percentage of net sales, gross margin increased to 22.0 percent, compared to 16.9 percent the previous year.

EBITDA for the quarter improved by 18.8 percent to a loss of $1.3 million from a loss of $1.6 million for the same period last year. Net loss for the quarter was $1.8 million, or $0.03 per common share, compared with $1.4 million, or $0.03 per common share for the same period last year.

Subsequent Events:

-- West 49 Inc entered the men's active-lifestyle apparel market with the launch of a new store concept under the banner Duke's Northshore. It opened its first Duke's Northshore store location at the Mapleview Centre in Burlington, Ontario on May 11th 2006, with a second location to open in the Georgian Mall in Barrie, Ontario later this summer.

-- In May, it opened two new stores in Alberta, a Billabong store in Banff, and a D-Tox store in Calgary. The D-Tox store is the first of its kind west of Ontario.

-- The company also opened two other D-Tox stores in Granby and St Jean, Quebec in May.

The company announced that it has filed its restated audited consolidated balance sheet for its fiscal year ended January 28th 2006, to correct an inadvertent accounting error.

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