Dallas, TX 11/22/2007 1:09:14 AM
OTCPicks.com Daily Market Movers Digest Midday Report for November 21st SPNG, UCOI, ITKG, DVNNF, SPAB, WLSN
Our Stocks to Watch today include SpongeTech Delivery Systems, Inc. (OTCBB: SPNG), Unico, Incorporated (OTCBB: UCOI.OB), Integral Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: ITKG), Devine Entertainment Corporation (OTCBB:DVNNF), SPACEHAB, Incorporated (NASD: SPAB), Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc. (NASD: WLSN)
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SPONGETECH DELIVERY SYSTEMS (OTCBB: SPNG)
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/SPNG.php
Company Profile: http://www.otcpicks.com/spongetech/spongetech.htm
SpongeTech Delivery Systems is a development stage company which designs, produces, markets and distributes cleaning products for vehicular use utilizing patented technology relating to sponges containing hydrophilic (liquid absorbing) foam polyurethane matrices. The Company's sponges are specially configured with an outer contact layer and an inner matrix, which is loaded with specially formulated soaps and wax that are released when the sponge is applied to a surface with minimal pressure. The Company's products are currently designed specifically for vehicular cleaning use. However, the Company is exploring the possibility of using its patented technology for the development of sponges for other uses, including for use with anti-bacterial, bath and kitchen soaps for household uses, as well as for use as a children's bath foam sponge.
SPNG News:
November 20 - SpongeTech Delivery Systems Inc, Commercial Set for Release
SpongeTech Commercial Finally Ready for Release
SpongeTech Delivery Systems, Inc. (OTCBB: SPNG) announced that the commercial is finally ready to air just in time for the holidays. We want to update the shareholders on this and let them know that there will be 30 second, 60 second and 120 second spots. These 3 commercials are part of the SpongeTech Delivery Systems, Inc. Media campaign. The commercials should air shortly along with print and radio advertising. The company will be giving its' shareholders updates with exact times and stations.
Steven Moskowitz, Chief Financial Officer of SpongeTech Delivery Systems stated, "We cannot wait to see the response from our new media campaign. It was done so the company can 'brand' its name and product during the holiday season."
View previous commercials is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRvgKhxLwD0
For more information, contact Bill Young in Investor Relations at 1-877- SPONGE T or visit the company website at www.spongetech.com.
UNICO INCORPORATED (AZ) (OTCBB: UCOI)
"Up 12.50% in morning trading"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/UCOI.php
Unico, Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of gold, silver, lead, zinc, and copper concentrates. The company owns interests in Deer Trail mine, which covers 28 patented claims, 5 patented mill sites, and 171 unpatented claims located on Deer Trail mountain in the Tushar mountains of East Central, Utah in the Mount Baldy and Ohio Mining districts, approximately 5 miles south of Marysvale, Utah. It also has interests in Silver Bell mine that consists of 26 patented mining claims located in American Fork Canyon, Utah County in Utah; and an option to purchase mining claims in Bromide Basin mine containing approximately 400 acres in the Henry Mountain Mining district, located in Garfield County, Utah. The company was founded in 1966. It was formerly known as Red Rock Mining Co., Incorporated and changed its name to Industries International, Incorporated. Further, the company changed its name to I.I. Incorporated and subsequently to Unico, Incorporated. Unico, Incorporated is based in San Diego, California.
UCOI News:
November 21 - Unico, Inc. Announces Initial Geological Work Conducted at Clyde and Crown Point Mines
Unico, Incorporated (OTCBB: UCOI.OB), a natural resource company in the precious metals mining sector, announced that initial geological work has been conducted in the areas of the Clyde and Crown Point mining claims by Dean Misantoni, senior geologist for Deer Trail Mining Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Unico, Incorporated. The Clyde and Crown Point claims were subjects of a lease agreement with Deer Trail Mining Company, Inc. that was announced in July 2006.
The report submitted by Mr. Misantoni states:
"Since August, 2007, initial geologic work has been conducted on the Clyde and Crown Point Mine areas. This includes the review of very limited previous geochemical data and maps of the area, aerial photographic examination, surface reconnaissance mapping and sampling, and Brunton and tape mapping/sampling of accessible underground workings.
As of this date, some 20 samples have been collected and analyzed by ALS Chemex in Vancouver, British Columbia. The initial focus has been on understanding the nature of the deposit(s), establishing the widths of mineralized structures, establishing the geochemical signature of the mineralization as an aid in guiding further exploration at depth, and its relationship to the mining district as a whole.
A mineralized, generally fine-grained hornblende-biotite porphyry of unknown dimensions is exposed on the surface and in underground workings on the property. It crops out over at least 500 feet in an east-west direction in the vicinity of the of the Clyde adits, and extends downhill to the south to near Cottonwood Creek Road. It was not noted in or near the Crown Point Mine. Faulted and mineralized intrusive contacts are exposed, either within steeply dipping clastic rocks, possibly shales of the Triassic Chinle Formation, on the west, or quartzites of the Jurassic Navajo sandstone on the east.
The property lies along several large, regional faults, and the Mesozoic sedimentary rocks are jumbled and rotated to near vertical, probably due to fault rotation, and possibly in part due to the intrusion. The form of the intrusive body appears to be that of a small plug or stock, as opposed to a dike, at the present level of exposure. Hydrothermal alteration varies from moderate propylitization (chlorite, magnetite, calcite) to intense phyllic alteration (clay/sericite) with disseminated pyrite and Fe-oxides. Rocks devoid of alteration are not exposed.
Mineralization consists of veins and mineralized breccias within the intrusion, and extends into the country rocks, which are sometimes altered to hornfels or fine-grained, green calc-silicate assemblages. The strongest zones of mineralization seem to occur along the northwest flank of the intrusion, at the brecciated contact of the intrusion with the enclosing sedimentary rocks, at the junction of at least two faults. Minerals consist of fine-grained pyrite-chalcopyrite-galena-sphalerite-tetrahedrite-tennantite in white to clear quartz veins and breccias. Other phases (enargite-covellite-chalcocite) have been tentatively identified. The mineralization appears to be unoxidized except for extensive, post-mine copper sulfate staining of fractures in the upper Clyde adit winze.
Although much work remains to be done, the Clyde prospect is definitely anomalous in a suite of elements, including gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), molybdenum (Mo), bismuth (Bi), barium (Ba,) and fluorine (F), consistent with the model for the mining district as a whole, and with a subvolcanic porphyry-type environment. The petrology of the intrusive, structural setting, and hydrothermal alteration types also fit the model quite well. The presence of a buried intrusive stock and porphyry system beneath Alunite Ridge has long been hypothesized, and the Clyde prospect (to the south and topographically beneath Alunite Ridge) may represent one instance where the top of such an intrusive system is exposed at the surface. Road access and drilling platforms are present, and are much more logistically sound than historic proposals to drill from platforms high on the mountains to the north."
Mark Lopez, chief executive officer of Unico, Inc., stated, "As we prepare to initiate processing operations at the mill and processing facility at the Deer Trail Mine, we will concurrently work to explore and develop additional sources beneficial to the facility. These sources are expected to include underground mining activities associated with the Deer Trail Mine, as well as other potential targets from the additional claims in the area, which include the Clyde and Crown Point mines.
"We are quite pleased to have received this initial report from Mr. Misantoni and look to continue the geological analysis of these claims as we move forward with our exploration efforts," Mr. Lopez added.
In August 2007, Unico announced that it had completed the purchase of the Deer Trail Mine for its Deer Trail Mining Company subsidiary.
Shareholders who would like to sign up to receive information by email directly from Unico, Inc. are asked to visit the company's website at http://www.unicomining.com/IR/mailinglist.php and fill in the appropriate fields.
INTEGRAL TECHNOLOGIES INC (OTCBB: ITKG)
"Up 13.46% in morning trading"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/ITKG.php
Integral Technologies, Inc. is the developer of an innovative electrically conductive resin-based material called “ElectriPlast™,” a highly conductive recipe that can be molded into virtually any shape or dimension associated with the range of plastics, rubbers and other polymers. Our IP consists of ElectriPlast™ and over 118 applications of ElectriPlast™ in various industries. To date, we have received 36 patents on ElectriPlast™ applications, 32 have been issued, 4 have been allowed and are awaiting issuance, and 82 are pending. Various examples of industries where ElectriPlast™ can be used are antennas, shielding, lighting, circuitry, switch actuators, resistors, and medical devices, to name just a few. The company is currently introducing these new products and ElectriPlast™ technology on a global scale.
ITKG News:
November 20 - Integral and Jasper Issue Update on ElectriPlast(TM) Product and Development
Integral Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: ITKG) (“Integral”) and Jasper Rubber Products, Inc. (“Jasper” or “Jasper Rubber”), through their CEO’s William Robinson and Douglas Mathias respectively, made the following comments relating to Integral’s ElectriPlast™ product and the commercialization progress which has been made since Jasper became Integral’s manufacturing partner.
From Integral:
Since our last statement to the Company’s shareholders we have continued on our path to 1/ advance our product, ElectriPlast™, both technically and in its manufacturability, so as to be able to deliver a world class product to a growing and varied customer base for a variety of applications, 2/ we have achieved this by securing a manufacturer of ElectriPlast™ pellets, Jasper Rubber (www.jasperrubber.com), 3/ protect our intellectual property surrounding our ElectriPlast™ technology by obtaining patent approvals and 4/ file new patents on applications as they are discovered.
We have been able to reach this point through the efforts of our manufacturing partner Jasper Rubber. Not only has Jasper refined and solidified the production process of ElectriPlast™ but Jasper personnel have provided valuable administrative support in the areas of sales, engineering, pricing, and quality control.
We are pleased to report that we are successfully conquering these goals, and we believe that Integral is now able to deliver its ElectriPlast™ product to its customers. This will now allow us to establish ourselves as the only possessor of the most highly electrically conductive resin based material in the world today.
Intellectual Property Portfolio
The Company continues to expand and develop its IP, Patents and Patent Pending portfolio around its ElectriPlast™ technology. To date, the Company has submitted for approval 118 patents based on ElectriPlast™ and its varied uses. We have received 36 patents on ElectriPlast™ applications, 32 have been issued, 4 have been allowed and are awaiting issuance, and 82 are pending. This is an increase of 20 over last year, and the Company expects the allowed to increase in 2008 as several applications will fall within the three year time frame it usually takes to finish the patent process. Therefore, we believe that the progress that has been made securing our intellectual property is of paramount importance to our future, and the long term value creation for our shareholders.
Product Advancement
Integral has spent several years developing and perfecting our breakthrough technology ElectriPlast™. In the past the Company only had the ability to blend small batches of product in order to share our technology with potential customers. This hampered our ability to develop and expand not only our customer base but our material science into the more popular resins. This has now been rectified with the exclusive manufacturing agreement, signed this past summer, between Jasper Rubber of Jasper Indiana and Integral. This joint manufacturing venture has now allowed us the ability to expand our product development so we can offer a variety of popular resins, based on the ElectriPlast™ technology.
We have now compounded 19 different plastic materials, but the process and product mix are much more complex than just compounding some resin. We have experimented with different pellet sizes, and with multiple variances of the form factor characteristics that come from these tests. These numerous factors together, would each be a separate raw material formulation. While we have blended 19 base resins, when considering the number of variables it would be result in near 100 new proprietary formulations. For example, we may have one resin with a dozen variables, so that one base plastic would be responsible for 13 formulas in our data base.
Marketing Activities
We continue to receive requests and needs for highly conductive polymers from all parts of the globe on a variety of applications as varied as our current patent portfolio. With the refinement of our manufacturing process now completed we have been able to present ElectriPlast™ to our patient customer base. This is accomplished by first, establishing a non-disclosure agreement between all parties. This allows the flow of information to be shared in order to understand what material needs might be used on a particular project. Samples in the form of ElectriPlast™ plaques or pellets will then be sent to a customer with processing data. We also have the capability and capacity to have molds built and parts molded or extruded should the customer need. This facilitation has allowed us with confidence to produce, deliver and demonstrate a material that a customer can then use to begin their research and development. A number of companies have visited Jasper and are currently molding parts and or establishing a research and development phase.
Client Specific Application Development
The ElectriPlast™ sales cycle process is arduous. It begins with testing and continues through engineering, design, tooling, inventory adjustment, production part testing and finally the purchase order.
We are working with 43 potential customers at the present time in the market areas of: Antenna, Apparel, Appliance, Audio & Visual, Automotive, Battery, Cable, Computer, Electrical, Heating, Heavy Equipment, Industrial, LED’s, Military, Mining & Construction, Power Delivery, Shielding, Sporting Goods, and Wiring.
With Jasper currently able to produce in excess of 50,000 pounds of ElectriPlast™ per month we are in a position to receive sales orders and deliver upon such.
Manufacturing
Through our new relationship with Jasper Rubber, founded in 1949, we have secured a manufacturer of innovative rubber and plastics development.
Jasper manufactures a full range of products under three facilities totally 330,000 square feet with an 800 person work force. Jasper currently manufactures a variety of goods for major appliance, oil filter, and automotive industries including several Fortune 500 companies. Since our exclusive manufacturing agreement was completed with Jasper several important steps have been taken. Jasper purchased state of the art machinery which has been integrated into their premises. The equipment although readily available had to be changed and in many instances had to be customized to meet exact specification in order to produce an ElectriPlast™ pellet. This work was done by Jasper’s experienced work force. The machinery development stage has now been implemented and future equipment modifications and expansion will be much easier.
Our focus for 2008
2007 has been a busy year for Integral and Jasper. We have established and implemented an exclusive manufacturing agreement, bought and customized newly acquired pelletizing machinery and completed tests on this machinery in order to finalize an agreement on a pricing matrix from Jasper to Integral. We will continue to expand our sales and marketing activities, focusing primarily on customer needs based on the ElectriPlast™ technology. That said; we believe that the bulk of our sales activities will be conducted through partners and third party suppliers with established industry distribution.
While sales and marketing are becoming the key area of focus for us going forward, we realize that our most valuable asset is our technology. It is important that we maintain our leading industry position and continue to invest in innovation. This objective will be implemented by expanding and protecting our intellectual property, while sharing the cost of innovation with our partners and customers.
From Jasper:
The year 2007 has been filled with enthusiasm and hard work by many individuals marketing and manufacturing ElectriPlast™. The sales effort is developing at a controlled pace as it moves from communicating the initial capabilities of the material to new customers, into designing, prototyping and testing of new applications. These efforts are time-consuming, but necessary, as new designs must be created and proven, due to the innovative nature of ElectriPlast™. Also, the new design must be manufactured and tested before production tooling and commercialization can occur. The basic manufacturing techniques have been established and the equipment is currently being utilized for material development and prototyping. We continue to be excited about the future of ElectriPlast™ and believe 2008 will lead us to commercial success.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, with interest having been received for hundreds of applications of ElectriPlast™ from Fortune 500 companies in industries such as automotive, aircraft manufacturing, communications, computers, consumer electronics, medical devices and others, we believe that Integral has moved from the R&D stage of the development of its ElectriPlast™ technology to the next phase being a commercial enterprise.
On behalf of Integral Technologies and Jasper Rubber we would like to thank you for your continued support. It has been an exciting run and we look forward to a very productive 2008.
Yours sincerely,
William Robinson, Chairman & CEO
Integral Technologies, Inc.
Doug Mathias, CEO & President
Jasper Rubber Products, Inc.
DEVINE ENTERTAINMENT (OTCBB: DVNNF)
"Up 11.11% in morning trading"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/DVNNF.php
Devine Entertainment Corporation develops, creates, and produces award-winning television programming and feature films for worldwide distribution across multiple TV broadcast networks, cable and satellite networks, DVD and Internet markets. Specializing in cultural and educational programming as well as prime-time drama and comedy entertainment programming, the Company’s titles have garnered more than 120 international film and television industry awards, including five Emmy and five Gemini Awards. The Company partners with leading international distributors, broadcasters and co-producers, such as Sony BMG, Rogers Media and The Carrere Group of France, to produce and distribute its award-winning film and television titles. Among Devine’s critically acclaimed productions are its cultural and educational film series on history’s landmark Composers, Inventors and Artists, which have been broadcast in more than 50 countries. The Company continues to expand its proprietary library of high-quality film and television content. Among its general-audience primetime programming is the acclaimed one-hour mystery series, “Across the River to Motor City,” delivered to broadcasters worldwide in 2007. Headquartered in Toronto, the Company’s common shares trade on the NASD OTCBB market in the U.S. under the symbol DVNNF, and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker 3TD. The Company’s corporate Web site is www.devine-ent.com.
DVNNF News:
November 21 - Devine Entertainment Accelerates Initiatives to Continue Revenue Growth in Educational and Institutional Film Marketplace
Company Builds Strong and Sustainable Revenue Streams through Sales of Successful Franchise Film Properties Widely used in Schools and Libraries
Steady Sales in Education Market Maintain Predictable Revenue Flow
Market Includes over 55 Million Students and 68,000 Schools in U.S.
More than 110,000 Libraries in U.S. also Potential Customers
Devine Entertainment Corporation (OTCBB:DVNNF), seeking to capitalize on the burgeoning global demand for high quality film and television content, has announced expansion of its educational marketing initiatives following the continued success in the distribution of proprietary film series to school and institutional buyers.
Devine recently sent representatives to the National Middle School Association annual conference in Houston, TX, to meet with volume buyers and curriculum-setters in the middle school market. In the best response in the Company’s history of attending school conferences, several hundred educators registered as part of Devine’s initiatives to sell a number of its most successful titles aimed at young adults.
“Although we have met with steady success in this market, we believe there is great untapped potential for additional sales,” said David Devine, President and Chief Executive Officer of Devine Entertainment. “We estimate that we have penetrated only 15-20 percent of the U.S. educational market to date with our successful franchise titles, yet these evergreen titles continue to sell strongly year after year. Meanwhile, the anticipated production of new titles will increase the value of our entire library.”
Devine’s education strategy in the U.S. currently focuses on the pre-K through 8th grade levels, comprising approximately 55 million students in 68,000 elementary and middle schools. It also targets more than 110,000 U.S. libraries, including public, private and school libraries.
Devine’s strong, established educational and institutional market distribution channel provides sales advantages distinct to the company. Devine does not need to arrange new distribution for newly produced or licensed properties. Making such arrangements is a time-consuming, expensive, hit-and-miss proposition for other participants in Devine’s marketplace. Devine’s educational and institutional distribution channel is solid and ongoing with real customers and revenue. Thus, Devine can also readily capitalize on any new products. Newly produced or acquired titles can be simply sold and distributed alongside existing products, giving new titles predictable revenue and sales value for Devine.
The increasingly strong Devine distribution channel also attracts high-quality titles produced by third parties, such as Shakespeare 4 Kids or Marsalis on Music, providing yet another powerful driver for Devine to grow its distribution pipeline and business.
Devine’s educational sales representatives will next attend the upcoming American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in January, in Philadelphia, PA, to develop further sales opportunities among volume buyers at libraries nationwide.
Among the Devine titles that have generated the highest sales and interest throughout the educational market segment are: The Inventors’ Specials, The Composers’ Specials, The Artists’ Specials, Marsalis on Music and Beethoven Lives Upstairs. The films are designed to address the young adult audience with high-quality script and production values that enable them to entertain students while they augment teacher instruction.
With many schools and municipalities increasingly forced to cut budgets for art and music education, Devine has seen greater demand than ever for its films to step into that gap. “Educators have found that our music and arts-oriented titles can provide students valuable exposure to these important aspects of culture that students might not otherwise receive,” said Glenn Sernyk, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Devine Entertainment, who spearheads the Company’s children’s and educational sales programs. “In addition, films such as our Inventors’ Specials are often used by teachers to help make math and science more accessible to their students.”
Devine enjoys a near-zero returned or unsold inventory rate on its educational titles, enabling the Company to maintain steady revenue projections in this portion of its operations. “Education provides a strong foundation for our business and helps us to avoid the cash flow uncertainty that plagues many film and television production companies,” said Mr. Devine. “This enables us to capitalize the company much more effectively to maintain our production pipeline and continue to build our library of titles.”
SPACEHAB INCORPORATED (NASD: SPAB)
"Up 4.95% in morning trading"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/SPAB.php
SPACEHAB, Incorporated provides commercial space products and services to NASA, international space agencies, Department of Defense, and private customers worldwide. It develops and operates space flight hardware assets, and provides manned and unmanned payload processing services. The company operates in three segments: SPACEHAB Flight Services, Astrotech Space Operations, and SPACEHAB Government Services. The SPACEHAB Flight Services segment offers a range of engineering, research, logistics, integration, operations, and ground support services. The Astrotech Space Operations segment provides facilities and support for the preparation of satellites and payloads for launch on expendable launch vehicles. The SPACEHAB Government Services segment offers large-scale government program technical support and specialized engineering analysis, products, and services to NASA and other customers. SPACEHAB also provides end-to-end space access solutions, space systems development, mission integration, and pre-launch processing facilities and services. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Webster, Texas.
SPAB News:
November 19 - SPACEHAB Supporting Key Milestones under NASA Space Act Agreement
Company Unveils Initial Details of ARCTUS
SPACEHAB, Incorporated (NASD: SPAB), a leading provider of commercial space services, announced that in accordance with the milestone requirements of the previously announced Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA, the Company hosted a formal Systems Requirements Review of its Advanced Research and Conventional Technology Utilization Spacecraft (ARCTUS) on October 25-26 at its Houston Headquarters facility. Attendees included representatives from NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, United Launch Alliance, Cimarron, Inc., and Lockheed Martin.
The unfunded SAA, signed in June 2007, facilitates the Company’s development of a commercial transportation system capable of ferrying cargo between Earth and Low Earth Orbit. SPACEHAB has engaged key suppliers to support major elements of the ARCTUS program including launch services provider, United Launch Alliance, spacecraft bus component supplier, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Cimarron, tasked with mission control center development and integration, and Odyssey Space Research, LLC, providing trajectory analysis and integration services.
“Our ARCTUS solution is a low cost, low risk design solution that seamlessly integrates flight proven components and does not require the development of a new launch vehicle,” said Rick Fitts, ARCTUS Program Manager. “With the arrival of the ARCTUS pressure shell mockup into our Houston facilities in July, we received the first hardware component of this innovative program,” said Fitts. SPACEHAB engineers are currently using the 500 pound mockup for internal pressurized cargo accommodation designs.
Capable of delivering and returning pressurized cargo to and from Low Earth Orbit, ARCTUS will supply a critical ‘means to an end’ for two distinct, yet complementary, space transport needs. First, ARCTUS supports NASA’s requirement to fill the International Space Station (ISS) cargo transport gap between the space shuttle’s planned 2010 retirement and when its replacement Constellation program becomes operational in 2015. Second, ARCTUS provides SPACEHAB with an additional means of space access in support of the Company’s previously announced microgravity processing initiatives, many of which are destined for production and processing on the ISS.
Consistent with the terms of the SAA, SPACEHAB conducted its Program Management Plan review in June 2007. In addition, a spacecraft Concept Review, including representatives from all ARCTUS spacecraft systems providers, was held on November 8, 2007 at Lockheed Martin’s facilities in Denver, Colorado. The ARCTUS team continues to develop the spacecraft vehicle and ground systems design and is focused on the next major milestone, the Preliminary Design Review scheduled for early 2008.
WILSONS LEATHER (NASD: WLSN)
"Up 7.55% in morning trading"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/WLSN.php
Wilsons The Leather Experts, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of leather outerwear, accessories, and apparel in the United States. Its products include men's and women's leather jackets; handbags; and other accessories, such as handbags, briefcases, computer cases, gloves, wallets, planners, and belts. The company offers its products through its stores in malls, outlet centers, and airports, as well as through its Web site, wilsonsleather.com. It markets its products under the M. Julian, Maxima, Pelle Studio, Wilsons The Leather Experts, Tannery West, Georgetown Leather Design, The Wallet Works, Wilsons Leather, and Wilsons Leather Outlet brand names. As of February 3, 2007, the company operated 417 stores located in 45 states, including 287 mall stores, 116 outlet stores, and 14 airport locations. Wilsons The Leather Experts was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.
WLSN News:
November 20 - Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc. Announces Third Quarter 2007 Operating Results
Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc. (NASD: WLSN) announced results for the quarter ended November 3, 2007. Net sales decreased 10.3% to $57.8 million compared to $64.5 million for the same period last year.
Comparable store sales for the third quarter ended November 3, 2007 decreased 13.3% compared to a decrease of 15.5% in the same period last year.
Wilsons Leather reported a net loss for the 2007 third quarter of $18.5 million, or $0.51 per basic and diluted share. Our basic and diluted loss per share calculation includes a $1.7 million Series A preferred stock paid-in-kind dividend payable. The basic and diluted loss per share for the 2007 third quarter, excluding the Series A preferred dividend, was $0.47 and compares to a net loss for the 2006 third quarter of $14.1 million, or $0.36 per basic and diluted share.
Year-to-date sales decreased 15.6% to $159.0 million compared to $188.3 million for the same period last year. Comparable store sales for the nine-month period decreased 15.8% compared to a decrease of 13.9% for the same period last year.
The 2007 year-to-date net loss was $69.2 million, or $2.23 per basic and diluted share. Our basic and diluted loss per share calculation for the year-to-date period includes $18.4 million of adjustments that increased our net loss available to common shareholders by $0.47 per basic and diluted share as a result of our June 2007 equity financing. The 2007 year-to-date basic and diluted loss per share, excluding the financing adjustments, was $1.76 and compares to a 2006 year-to-date net loss of $45.1 million, or $1.15 per basic and diluted share.
A reconciliation of the U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) loss available to common shareholders and loss per basic and diluted share for the 2007 periods with and without the impact related to the June 2007 equity financing appears in an accompanying table. GAAP loss available to common shareholders and loss per basic and diluted share, excluding the financing adjustments, are measures of performance that are not defined by GAAP and should be viewed in addition to, and not in lieu of, GAAP loss available to common shareholders and loss per basic and diluted share as reported on a GAAP basis. We believe that this non-GAAP disclosure provides meaningful information regarding our ongoing operations as compared to prior periods.
Michael Searles, Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Our third quarter performance is reflective of our continuing transition to a brand driven strategy, as well as an unseasonably warm third quarter, which saw our apparel categories in the mall and outlet channels declining 25.5% in men’s and 18.9% in women’s. Branded product, however, continues to significantly outperform our expectations and reconfirms our belief that brands in both outerwear and accessories are our future. Accessory categories in our mall stores continued to see double-digit comparable store sales increases during the quarter.”
Mr. Searles continued, “As colder weather has arrived, the first two weeks of November have seen our mall and outlet channels move to positive comparable store sales.”
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The information contained herein contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1993 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 including statements regarding expected continual growth of the company and the value of its securities. In accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 it is hereby noted that statements contained herein that look forward in time which include everything other than historical information, involve risk and uncertainties that may affect the company's actual results of operation. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include the size and growth of the market for the company's products, the company's ability to fund its capital requirements in the near term and in the long term, pricing pressures, unforeseen and/or unexpected circumstances in happenings, pricing pressures, etc. Investing in securities is speculative and carries risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
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