Tandy Cuts Loss in Q4

NEW YORK – Tandy Brands Accessories cut its fourth-quarter loss in half but still finished the year $3.5 million in the red.

The Arlington, Tex.-based accessories marketer had a net loss of $1 million, or 16 cents a diluted share, in the three months ended June 30, versus a loss of $2.1 million, or 33 cents, in the year-ago quarter. Helped by sales of discontinued merchandise moved at lower margins as well as a healthy men’s and women’s belt business, revenues rose 9.9% to $47.1 million from $42.9 million a year ago.

J.S.B. Jenkins, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement, “Our results for the fourth quarter were on plan and reflect our continued efforts to improve the overall performance of our accessories business. We completed the exit from certain lower margin women’s product categories, made strategic improvements to our management team, reduced our workforce, and maintained tight controls on inventories and spending.”

He added that recent restructuring moves “will prove responsible for generating improvements in margins and operating profitability in the upcoming fiscal year.”

For the year, the net loss was $3.5 million, or 52 cents a share, against a net profit of $4 million last year. Sales progressed 2.8% to $227.3 million.

Full-year results included after-tax charges of 67 cents a diluted share related to the discontinuation of parts of its women’s product line and 14 cents related to goodwill impairment of its women’s mass merchant segment. Excluding these items, EPS would have come in at 29 cents a share, the company said, at the high end of its April 26 guidance.