Los Angeles, CA - Ironclad Performance Wear Corporation (ICPW) accounced that William (Bill) Aisenberg has joined the Company as its Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and, Scott Furash has joined the Company as Vice President of Global Sourcing.
Mr. Aisenberg, a Certified Public Accountant, brings more than 30 years of financial executive experience in apparel, consumer products, and the public accounting field. Most recently Mr. Aisenberg served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Walls Industries, a leading company in work, sporting and safety apparel.
Prior to Walls, Mr. Aisenberg served as Vice President and Corporate Controller at Strategic Equipment and Supply Corporation. Mr. Aisenberg also has acquired cross functional experience working with other companies, including The Brinkmann Corporation, Pinnacle Trading Card Company, The Foster Grant Group and Arthur Andersen & Co.
"We are excited to welcome Bill to the Ironclad family. Bill brings to our Company extensive financial and industry experience with an impressive record of driving profitability. We are confident that his leadership will elevate the performance of our entire management team," said Jeff Cordes, Chief Executive Officer of Ironclad.
"It is an honor to accept this opportunity to lead Ironclad's financial efforts as we begin this new chapter in its growth. I look forward to working with all of our employees and partners to help the Company realize its full potential," said Mr. Aisenberg.
Mr. Furash, as the head of global sourcing, brings more than twenty years of executive experience in sourcing and development of safety apparel and textiles. Most recently Mr. Furash served as the Senior Global Sourcing Leader for Honeywell Safety Products. Mr. Furash's management experience also includes domestic and overseas positions with Standard Textile, The Blumenthal Inc., and Caterpillar Apparel. "We are excited to also welcome Scott Furash to Ironclad. Scott will provide our Company with important expertise in sourcing and supply chain areas. His international exposure and technical abilities will open new doors for us," said Mr. Cordes.
"It is privilege to be a part of this growing business. I look forward to the opportunity to apply my skills and sourcing expertise to build Ironclad's success," said Mr. Furash.
Ironclad Performance Wear Reports First Quarter 2014 Results
Los Angeles, CA - Ironclad Performance Wear Corporation reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014.
First Quarter 2014 Results
The company reported Net Sales for the first quarter of 2014 of $5.1 million, a decrease of 4.5% from the first quarter total of $5.3 million for 2013. The decline primarily resulted from reduced sales to ORR Safety in our industrial/safety segment and AutoZone in our retail automotive segment. As disclosed in the prior quarter, thedecline with ORR Safety occurred as they completed an inventory rationalization that began during 2013. The Company expects sales to ORR Safety to rebound during the 2nd quarter of 2014. The decline with AutoZone was due to the wind down of our Snap-on license branded program. The Company did experience significant increases in sales with other customers in its industrial, international and private label segments.
Gross Profit was $1.5 million, or 28.9% of Net Sales in the first quarter of 2014, compared to $2.0 million, or 37.2% of Net Sales in the first quarter of 2013.
Gross Profit declined in our domestic industrial segment as a result of lower sales volume with our largest industrial customer, ORR Safety. However, higher revenues and Gross Profit in our international distribution segment offset the majority of the domestic industrial segment's shortfall.
Gross Profit in our private label business more than doubled for the first quarter, all of which was attributable to the increase in private label sales volume. While private label is an important part of our business, it does not generate the margins achieved in our industrial or international segments.
The retail segment recorded an approximate 57% decline in Gross Profit from the same period a year ago. The drop was due to the wind down of our Snap-on license program with AutoZone. The Company, for the quarter, recorded lower revenues, all sold at lower margins to close out products, as required by the license, and also incurred other promotional expenses.
Expenses as a percent of Net Sales in the first quarter of 2014 decreased to 38.5%, or $2.0 million, compared to 39.4% of Net Sales, or $2.1 million during the same period last year.
Loss from Operations in the first quarter of 2014 was $484,000, or 9.5%, as compared to a loss of $112,000, or 2.1%, during the same period in 2013.
Net Loss for the first quarter of 2014 was $491,000, or $0.01 per share, as compared to a loss of $122,000, or $0.01 per share, in the same period last year.
Ironclad's Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey Cordes, commented: "The 2014 first quarter performance simply calls out the ups and downs that smaller companies like Ironclad are susceptible to where significant customer concentrations often create dramatic highs and lows quarter to quarter. This is why for the remainder of 2014 we are so focused on expanding our base of distributors and retailers.
While hidden by the quarter's top and bottom line totals, there were actually solid wins this quarter in new business landed, initial shipments on new programs, and recoveries from prior year declines by other key customers. Our international business was up more than 90% and our private label business increased more than 120%."
Mr. Cordes added: "We believe the decline of revenues with ORR Safety this quarter is primarily timing related and will be recovered during the next three quarters. We are excited that we are beginning to roll out this quarter our new KONG glove for Quanta Services. This is a major new KONG program that ORR Safety and Ironclad worked together on. While the loss of the Snap-on business at AutoZone was unfortunate, the fact remains that we have a good opportunity to build our retail business going forward with AutoZone and many additional customers.
This quarter's results further validates our view that this Company continues to succeed on the strength of its product and brand reputation, and with proper execution on further line development, sales team development and supply chain, can be very successful. We continue to view 2014 as a rebuilding year for the Company. We are already aggressively making changes to put us on the road to profitable growth in 2015."
