Despite lower mall traffic and consumer spending, NexCen Brands, the owner of The Athlete’s Foot and Shoebox New York, managed to improve its loss from continuing operations in the second quarter ended June 30. This year it was $800,000, compared with $112.8 million for the same period in 2008. Excluding impairment charges and restructuring costs, the quarterly loss in 2009 was $700,000 against $4.5 million the year before.
Sales dropped by 1 percent to $11.8 million as lower revenues from royalties and factories offset higher revenues from franchise fees. Operating income was $1.6 million, a significant improvement over 2008’s $113.4 million loss.
As of June 30, NexCen had 1,770 franchised stores, down from 1,881 in 2008, reflecting closures of underperforming or non-compliant stores. It signed franchising deals to open 20 new doors during the second quarter.
For the first six months of the year, revenues were up by 7 percent to $23.7 million, mostly on the back of Great American Cookies, which was bought in January 2008. Operating income for the half was $3.4 million, compared with an operating loss of $115.9 million for the six months in 2008.
