Post by Chris_Wendt on Aug 5, 2009 14:58:08 GMT -5
The company for which I work announced Second Quarter Financial Results today and then held its Investor conference call.
We are very pleased with the bottom line results, especially during the current economic recession.
Quarterly earnings were $5.6 Million (Profit) or 30 cents per share, compared to a $772 thousand Loss or -4 cents per share in the same quarter last year. After extraordinary items were excluded, the results were distilled to a Profit of $5.2 Million versus break even last year.
For the six months ending June 30, our earnings per share in 2009 were 35 cents compared to 16 cents in 2008 (or, more than double).
One of the highlights of the report noted by our CEO is the fact that we increased our quarterly gross profit margin from 21.7% in 2008 to 25.5%[/b] in 2009. This is a significant managerial and leadership accomplishment, but not one that is unusual for many companies intent on surviving and prospering during this dire economic situation.
This is not a time when we could raise prices to our customers, and not a time when we could expect relief from our own suppliers. We had to reach deep within our own resources to tighten our belts until it hurt, to gain efficiency everywhere we were able to, and to shed inefficiency every place where we found it but could not correct it. This meant a lot of real, tough decisions, and a lot of serious, selfless dedication to succeed despite long odds against success.
I have to tell you that last year we had a staff photographer and a fully equipped in-house photography studio which produced our product advertising imagery. This year we no longer have a staff photographer or an in-house photo studio. Advertising images are now produced by an agency down the block, when and as needed, and for a tiny fraction of the cost of producing those images in house with a staff photographer in our own elaborate studio.
Like most real-world corporations, we don't have secretaries who take dictation (everyone types their own stuff). I can't think of a single job title that has the word "ASSISTANT" in it, in any of our offices from Warsaw, Poland, to Hong Kong or any place in between, like New York, Toronto, Texas, the Carolinas, Florida, Kansas or Mexico. But, that's out here, you know...
...in the real world, where people have to be accountable for things like profit margins and efficiency.
I could almost be smirking, if this wasn't so real and so serious.
Chris Wendt
We are very pleased with the bottom line results, especially during the current economic recession.
Quarterly earnings were $5.6 Million (Profit) or 30 cents per share, compared to a $772 thousand Loss or -4 cents per share in the same quarter last year. After extraordinary items were excluded, the results were distilled to a Profit of $5.2 Million versus break even last year.
For the six months ending June 30, our earnings per share in 2009 were 35 cents compared to 16 cents in 2008 (or, more than double).
One of the highlights of the report noted by our CEO is the fact that we increased our quarterly gross profit margin from 21.7% in 2008 to 25.5%[/b] in 2009. This is a significant managerial and leadership accomplishment, but not one that is unusual for many companies intent on surviving and prospering during this dire economic situation.
This is not a time when we could raise prices to our customers, and not a time when we could expect relief from our own suppliers. We had to reach deep within our own resources to tighten our belts until it hurt, to gain efficiency everywhere we were able to, and to shed inefficiency every place where we found it but could not correct it. This meant a lot of real, tough decisions, and a lot of serious, selfless dedication to succeed despite long odds against success.
I have to tell you that last year we had a staff photographer and a fully equipped in-house photography studio which produced our product advertising imagery. This year we no longer have a staff photographer or an in-house photo studio. Advertising images are now produced by an agency down the block, when and as needed, and for a tiny fraction of the cost of producing those images in house with a staff photographer in our own elaborate studio.
Like most real-world corporations, we don't have secretaries who take dictation (everyone types their own stuff). I can't think of a single job title that has the word "ASSISTANT" in it, in any of our offices from Warsaw, Poland, to Hong Kong or any place in between, like New York, Toronto, Texas, the Carolinas, Florida, Kansas or Mexico. But, that's out here, you know...
...in the real world, where people have to be accountable for things like profit margins and efficiency.
I could almost be smirking, if this wasn't so real and so serious.
Chris Wendt