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For the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2008, the Company reported netsales of $33.0 million, a 73% increase above net sales of $19.0 million in thequarter ended March 31, 2007. Net income increased to approximately$5.7 million, or $0.59 per diluted share, compared to net income ofapproximately $1.7 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, in the prior year'squarter.
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For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008, net sales increasedapproximately 3%, to $101.0 million, compared to net sales of $97.6 millionfor the twelve months ended March 31, 2007. Additionally, net income increasedapproximately 59%, to $10.4 million, or $1.04 per diluted share, compared tonet income of approximately $6.5 million, or $0.66 per diluted share, in thetwelve months ended March 31, 2007.
Carl Johnson, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleasedto announce fiscal 2008 net sales exceeded $100 million and our Zicam(R)brand's growth continued to outpace the cough and cold category as a whole.Fiscal 2008 was challenging due to an unusually slow start to the cold and fluseason and tightening inventory management practices by certain of our largecustomers. The cold and flu season did eventually arrive and we realizedstrong brand momentum during the second half of the cold season. Zicam growthcontinues to be at the top of the category and growth of Zicam products atretail was higher than our factory shipment growth. For the 12 weeks endedMarch 23, 2008, retail sales (three-outlet syndicated scanner data, which doesnot include our largest customer Wal-Mart) of Zicam products increasedapproximately 25%, while the total cough/cold category increased approximately12% compared to the prior year. This growth resulted in Zicam productsattaining a 3.6% dollar share of the category, versus 3.2% in the comparableperiod a year ago. For the entire cold season, as measured by the 24 weeksended March 23, 2008, retail sales of Zicam products increased approximately8%, while the total cough/cold category increased approximately 4% compared tothe prior year."
Mr. Johnson continued, "During the cold season, we initiated new marketingprograms that focused on our unique swab delivery Cold Remedy product. Earlyindications of the new programs reflect strong success in the concept,resulting in high retail sales pull through. During fiscal 2008 retail salesof Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs(TM) increased over 20% and, during our fiscalfourth quarter, retail sales of swab products were up over 50%. Additionally,we continued to see robust growth from our oral delivery Cold Remedy products.We expect to continue focusing our marketing on the unique attributes of Zicamproducts to foster future growth. Initial shipments of our Xcid(TM) antacidoccurred at the end of fiscal 2008 to a single retailer. Launching a new brandtakes time and we anticipate marketing efforts focused on Xcid to begin in thecurrent quarter, including a large sampling effort."
"In fiscal 2009, we will focus on growing our brands, increasing consumerawareness, and improving our operating income margin. In fiscal 2008,operating income margin increased to 16%, compared to 10% for the twelvemonths ended March 31, 2007. We believe there are opportunities to increaseoperating income margins above 20% in fiscal 2009. For fiscal 2009, theCompany anticipates revenue increasing 5% to 10% above the $101 millionachieved in fiscal 2008. The Company also expects net income to increase 20%to 30% above the $10.4 million recognized in fiscal 2008. We expect new Zicamproduct offerings in fiscal 2009 and anticipate initial international sales
