Additionally, during the second quarter, the Company:
-- Opened 4 new stores and at quarter-end operated 297 stores in 43 states;
-- Remodeled 7 stores with 53 percent of its Cache store base in the new store format at quarter-end.
Gross profit in the second quarter increased by 4.2 percent to $30.4 million, or 45.3 percent of net sales, compared to $29.1 million, or 46.9 percent of net sales, in the second quarter of 2003. For the first half of fiscal 2005, gross profit rose by 4.9 percent to $57.5 million, or 44.3 percent of net sales, compared to $54.8 million, or 46.0 percent of net sales, in the prior year period. The decline in gross profit margin for the second quarter and first half of fiscal 2005 reflected greater promotional activity and increased occupancy costs related to our store expansion program and was partially offset by higher initial markup.
In total, operating expenses for the second quarter were $25.6 million, or 38.3 percent of net sales compared to $22.0 million, or 35.5 percent of net sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2004. For the first half of fiscal 2005, total operating expenses were $50.0 million, or 38.6 percent of net sales compared to $42.6 million, or 35.7 percent of net sales in the prior year period. The rise in total operating expenses, as a percent of sales, for the second quarter and first half of fiscal 2005, was primarily due to the increase in the number of stores opened since the sameperiod last year, as well as due to higher payroll, depreciation, insurance, advertising costs and professional fees and was partially offset by lower incentive bonus accruals, as compared to last year.
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
