Cutter & Buck reported strong results for its 3rd quarter ended Jan. 31, 2006 across all channels, but its sales outside of the USA fell by 12.1 percent to $754,000 as the company continued a process of shifting some of its foreign business from distributors to licensees.
The company’s total revenues increased by 29.0 percent to $31.2 million in the period. Sales of discounted products were the main driver for the first two months of the quarter, followed by strong turnover from C&B’s new Classic and Spring fashion products in January, the company said. The liquidation of discounted products hurt the gross margin, which fell by 110 basis points to 44.1 percent, but reduced C&B’s inventory. C&B posted a net income of $500,000 in the quarter, as compared with a $400,000 loss.
On March 7 the company named Ernie Johnson, 55, as its new chief executive and as a new member of its board of directors. At the same time, Kaia Akre, 42, was appointed president. Michael Gats, 47, was named vice president and chief financial officer, and John Runkel, 49, became the new vice president of global sourcing and distribution. These appointments follow the resignation of Tom Wyatt, former chief executive. C&B has eliminated the position of chief operations officer, after the departure of Bill Swint, who held this role as well as the position of vice president.
