NexCen Brands Inc. has reported selected unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009, and the full year ended Dec. 31, 2008. The delay in reporting follows the company's failure to provide timely financial reports for the prior fiscal year. In January, the company received a delisting notice from the Nasdaq Listing and Hearing Review Council for its failure to file timely quarterly reports for the previous fiscal year.
Total revenues for Q1 2009 were up 17 percent to $11.9 million, compared to $10.2 million in the same quarter last year. The increase in revenues is due to a full quarter of revenues for Great American Cookies, which was acquired on Jan. 29, 2008.
The loss from continuing operations before income taxes for the quarter was $0.6 million, an improvement of 88 percent compared to a loss of $5.1 million in the same period last year.
At the end of Q1 2009, the company's outstanding debt was down to $142.5 million, compared to an outstanding balance of $178.7 million at the end of Q1 2008. The company reduced its outstanding debt by $37.9 million during Q4 2008, using proceeds from the sale of its consumer branded products businesses Bill Blass and Waverly. The company further reduced its outstanding debt by $5.0 million in August 2009 using a portion of the net proceeds from the grant of long-term, exclusive licenses for the TAF (The Athlete's Foot) brand in Australia and New Zealand.
2008 results
Total revenues for fiscal year 2008 was $47.0 million, which represent full-year operations of NexCen's portfolio of franchised brands, except Great American Cookies, which the company owned for approximately 11 months.
The company's net loss in fiscal year 2008 was approximately $255 million, compared to a loss of $4.9 million in fiscal year 2007.
"While we are resolving certain open income tax items, we are pleased to report that the company generated operating income in the first quarter of 2009 versus an operating loss in the first quarter of 2008," said Kenneth J. Hall, CEO of NexCen Brands, in a new release. "We increased revenues, reduced operating expenses and reduced our debt in the first quarter of 2009 versus the first quarter of 2008.
Filing update
The company has substantially completed the preparation of its financial statements for 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, and is in the process of finalizing its accounting for certain income tax matters in order to file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the first quarter of 2009 and Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2008 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"The events of 2008 materially and negatively impacted our financial results and our ability to provide financial statements and reports on a timely basis," Hall said. "However, we are hopeful that we have completed the lion's share of our efforts to reposition our company for compliance, stability and future growth."
Upon the resolution of its income tax accounting items, the company expects to expeditiously file its Form 10-K for 2008 and Form 10-Q for the quarter ending March 31, 2009. The company then will hold a conference call to review its results for those periods. The company will provide further information regarding such conference call as soon as practicable.
