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MERRIMACK, N.H., Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovative product development
company and specialty lifestyle retailer Brookstone, Inc. today announced
sales results for the nine week period ended December 31, 2005. Sales in this
release do not include sales from the Companys Gardeners Eden brand, a
discontinued operation. Sales results are preliminary and may change as a
result of final adjustments for sales returns and the application of SEC Staff
Accounting Bulletin No. 101 -- Revenue Recognition in Financial Statements.
For the nine week period ended December 31, 2005, same store sales
decreased 8.1% as compared to the same period last year. Sales of the
Direct-to-Customer segment increased 2.6%, to $40.1 million. Total Company
sales for the nine week period ended December 31, 2005 decreased 2.3%, to
$199.6 million, as compared to the same period last year.
Michael Anthony, Brookstone President and Chief Executive Officer, said:
"We are encouraged by our preliminary results for the month of December,
when same store sales decreased by 5.5% and total sales decreased by only 0.1%
compared with December 2004. We believe we are well positioned for 2006. We
ended the year with a healthy cash position of approximately $75 million as of
December 31, 2005 and no cash borrowings under our $100 million asset backed
credit facility. We have a number of new product launches planned, some of
which will be our exclusive launch of certain OSIM healthy lifestyle
products."
The Company is in the process of preparing its audited financial
statements for the year ended December 31, 2005. The Company anticipates
releasing these results publicly on February 22, 2006.
On October 4, 2005, Brookstone, Inc. was acquired through a merger
transaction with Brookstone Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation formed
by OSIM International Ltd and affiliates of J.W. Childs Equity Partners III,
L.P. and Temasek (Private) Capital Limited. As a result of the acquisition,
Brookstone, Inc. became a privately held, wholly owned subsidiary of OSIM
Brookstone Holdings, L.P., the general partner of which is OSIM Brookstone
Holdings, Inc. and the majority shareholder of which is OSIM International
Ltd.
On June 29, 2005, the Company announced its plans to sell its Gardeners
Eden business, which currently consists of one Gardeners Eden store. As a
result, commencing with the second quarter of Fiscal 2005, the Company began
reflecting the results of operations from the Gardeners Eden business as a
discontinued operation.
Brookstone, Inc. is a product development and specialty retail Company
that operates 304 Brookstone Brand stores nationwide and in Puerto Rico.
Typically located in high-traffic regional shopping malls and airports, the
stores feature unique and innovative consumer products. The Company also
operates one store under the Gardeners Eden Brand, and a Direct Marketing
business that includes the Brookstone and Hard to Find Tools catalogs and an
e-commerce website at http://www.brookstone.com.
Statements in this release which are not historical facts, including
statements about the Companys confidence or expectations, earnings,
anticipated operations of its e-commerce sites and those of third-party
service providers, and other statements about the Companys operational
outlook are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("Reform
Act") and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those set forth in such forward-looking
statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks of
changing market conditions in the overall economy and the retail industry,
consumer demand, the effectiveness of e-commerce technology and marketing
efforts, availability of products, availability of adequate transportation of
such products, and other factors detailed from time to time in the Companys
annual and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Words such as "estimate," "project," "plan," "believe," "feel," "anticipate,"
"assume," "may," "will," "should" and similar words and phrases may identify
forward-looking statements. Statements about a possible sale or divestiture of
its Gardeners Eden business constitute forward-looking statements. The Company
may not be able to complete a divestiture on acceptable terms because of a
number of factors, including failure to reach agreement with a purchaser.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. The Company undertakes no
obligations to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking
statements or reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.
Contact: Philip Roizin
EVP of Finance and Administration
(603) 880-9500
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