Firstime Design Limited (OTC:FTDL)

Firstime Design Limited (OTC:FTDL), a company that operates through its subsidiaries, FirsTime Manufactory, Inc. and InnerSpace Luxury Products, LLC, industry-leading designers, marketers, and distributors of home goods and sleep environment products, announced Q2 2022 results:

• Sales of $2.8 million vs $5.9 million in the prior year

• Loss of $1.43 vs EPS of $0.41

“...as expected, the third quarter continues to be a reset for our business. We continue to work through higher cost inventory due to hyperinflationary forces in the container space which have the impact of suppressing our gross margins. That being said, shipping and container costs remain historically low, and we expect to see gross margins normalize over time. Though we expect the Company’s reset to extend into the fourth quarter, with the normalization of container costs, we hope to see the Company’s losses narrow in 2023.

As a result of the Company’s losses, we are taking steps to continue to put the Company in a position to see through the current situation including consolidating warehouse space, reviewing our operating expenses, and working with all stakeholders in our business as we manage through this period to get the business back to profitability.”

Firstime Design Limited (OTC:FTDL) ($2.52; $2.9M market cap), a company that operates through its subsidiaries, FirsTime Manufactory, Inc. and InnerSpace Luxury Products, LLC, industry-leading designers, marketers, and distributors of home goods and sleep environment products, announced Q2 2022 results:

• Sales of $3.6 million vs $5.3 million in the prior year
• Loss of $0.95 vs EPS of $0.04

“the second and third quarters of 2022 will be a reset for our Company as we put the losses driven by the hyperinflationary container environment of 2021 and 2022 behind us. Not only did we bring in fresh capital in the form of a new asset-based line of credit with Aequum Capital Financial, LLC out of Chicago, but we are also fortunate enough to have secured an additional investment from professional small cap investor Karl Brewer. Karl brings expertise to our Company having been a professional small cap investor with William Blair for decades, and we value his insight as we work towards returning to our long-term growth and profitability objectives.

The organization continues to look forward and we see bright spots as we approach the end of the year. Though we expect the third quarter to be as challenging as the second quarter, the cost of shipping from Asia into the United States has fully normalized which has allowed us to restart the flow of inventory from overseas. We had previously put such imports on pause due to hyperinflation in the container shipping market. The Company will have close to $2 million of new inventory hitting warehouses in anticipation of the fourth quarter. We remain optimistic that we can get the business back to profitability as we move through this post-COVID inflationary period due to the myriad of actions we took thus far in 2022. These include right-sizing our warehousing footprint, diversifying our freight forwarding capacities, selectively raising wholesale prices, implementing a new state-of-the-art ERP system, rolling out our direct-to-consumer strategy through www.firstime.com , and recapitalizing the business to improve the Company's liquidity."

Second Quarter 2015 Results

• Q2 2015 sales of $2.3 million vs $1.9 million
• Q2 2015 EPS of $0.17 vs $0.11 in the prior year

Additionally, the Company announced the formation of a Capital Allocation Committee to review and recommend to the Board of Directors “for” or “against” external capital investments, acquisitions, securities purchases or sales, mergers and general investments. Newly elected Chairman of the Committee, Andrew Bass, said “the Board of Directors and Company recognize that in addition to maintaining a profitable and growing core business, FTDL should explore opportunities to deploy capital, in a deliberative manner, with the intent of maximizing per share value.”

NEW BERLIN, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FIRSTIME DESIGN LIMITED (FTDL) announced its Board of Directors has approved a $0.05 per share special cash dividend on its common stock, payable on July 31, 2015 to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 15, 2015.

First Quarter 2015 Results

• Net sales for the three months ended March 31, 2015 of $2,300,000 an increase of 12.1% compared to the same period last year.
• The Company reported first quarter consolidated net income of $218,000 or $0.14 per common share, an increase of 56.9%, as compared to net income of $139,000 or $0.09 per common share for the same quarter last year.

Christopher D. Bering, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Our ability to curate and integrate new categories and businesses, then test and rapidly scale them across our multi-channel platform, is at the core of our ability to gain share in the home furnishings marketplace. Our accelerated revenue and net income growth in the quarter clearly demonstrates the earning power of our business model, and our team’s drive to deliver industry-leading results.”

Mr. Bering added, “The business momentum and strong trends we’re experiencing gives us further confidence in the vision and path of the organization. Looking forward, we remain focused on our value driving strategies, which include the expansion of our product offering, and the continued enhancement of our operating infrastructure. I would like to thank all of our team members for their commitment to our cause, and our partners and shareholders for your continued support.”

Yesterday we stated we had sold our long position to move into other more timely opportunities, but we would keep FTDL coded as a GeoBargain and reevaluate after its upcoming Q4 2014 earnings report.  After the close, FTDL reported disappointing Q4 2014 results.

• Net revenues were $1.88 million, a decrease of 15.5% from $2.22 million in the same quarter last year.

• EPS was $0.04 vs $0.14 in the same period last year.

As a result of another quarter of weak financial results, we are now removing FTDL from the GeoBargain list.

Third Quarter 2014 Results

• Q3 2014 revenues of $1.8 million vs $2.2 million in the prior year period
  Q3 2014 EPS of $0.13 vs $0.16 in the prior year period

Quotes from management:

“The slight decrease in sales was due in part to some of the challenges facing the retail segment. This included slower than expected foot traffic, which was combined with the up and downs of consumer spending and confidence. In an effort to improve on sales we have implemented a new strategy, which allows us to strengthen our position and presence in the e-commerce arena. In a short time we have developed a number of new online relationships and we believe this expansion will afford us the opportunity to broaden our market presence, produce a new means of revenue and create a more sustainable business that is less reliant on a few major customers.”

Second Quarter 2014 Results

• Net sales for the three months ended June 30, 2014 of $1.9 million vs $1.9 million in the same period last year.
• Second quarter net income was $168,000 or $0.11 per common share, an increase of 8.4%, as compared to a net income of $156,000 or $0.10 per common share for the same quarter last year.

First Quarter 2014 Results

• Sales for the three months ended March 31, 2014, of $2,052,000 an increase of 12.5% compared to the same period last year.
• EPS for the three months ended March 31, 2014 of $0.09 vs $0.09 in the prior year.
  

Christopher D. Bering, FirsTime’s President and CEO said, “the growth in sales reflects strong execution across all aspects of the organization and it demonstrates that we are successfully navigating a still challenging environment in home accessory-retail.”

“FirsTime® is a growing brand with roots as a leader in premium functional décor,” said Mr. Bering. “The goal is to offer affordable functional décor, that connects with consumers. Our consistent growth, in part, is a reflection of our initiatives to better understand not only our retail partners, but also the end-consumer. Understanding the markets and designing products that resonate will help ensure we stay on a long-term, sustainable path.”

NEW BERLIN, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FIRSTIME DESIGN LIMITED (FTDL) today announced its Board of Directors has approved a $0.25 per share special cash dividend on its common stock, payable on March 15, 2014 to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 28, 2014, as part of its ongoing plan to generate shareholder value.

 Christopher D. Bering, FirsTime’s President and CEO, said, “Given the $1.7 million in cash on our balance sheet at the end of 2013, combined with the projected cash needs of the business over the next 12 months, we believe a larger than average cash distribution maximizes shareholder value.”

Bering went on to say, “Once again, we would like to acknowledge our shareholders who have partnered with us throughout the restructuring process and continue to believe that our focus on maximizing shareholder value will lead to our long term success.”

FTDL, through its subsidiary, License Products, Inc., designs and distributes decorative clocks and other home decor product.  The company has lost money from at least 2007 to 2011.  However, we believe there are reasons for tracking the company:

• It appears that the company begun a restructuring process in 2011 to address product offerings and operational structure.  
• Shortly after implementing these initiatives, the company was soon able to reverse prior year losses and it has reported 8 straight quarters of profitability with year-over-year growth.
• The company is more profitable today than it was at a higher revenue level when it was losing money.
• Management commentary infers the company is finally in a position to grow sales while maintaining margins.
• The company paid a special dividend in its first quarter of 2013
• We like tracking companies that serve niche and obscure markets; they can fly under the radar creating opportunity for early entry investors.
• Small Float (1.3 million shares)

Caveat:

• We need to review the capital structure in order to determine any existence of dilutive securities.

We are now coding FTDL as a GeoBargain on the Radar, and will attempt to interview management