Drop in 1Q sales for leading baker
sales compared to the first quarter last year.
A leading US baker,Tasty Baking, announced this week that first quarter gross sales dropped to $64.0 (€71.3m) million, compared with $65.7 million for the first quarter last year.
Carl S. Watts, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: "Our first quarter results were a reflection of a continuing difficult marketplace. Although sales at the beginning of the quarter were on budget, our attempts to better manage our pricing and promotional costs, especially in our route territories, were met with heavy consumer resistance. "
In addition, the company reported that 'unprecedented promotional activity' by all competitors in the snack food category had a negative impact on sales and as a result route territories experienced an 8 per cent sales decrease.
Gross sales, less discounts and allowances, resulted in net sales of $40.7 million, compared with $42.2 million reported for the same period last year. Net income for the thirteen weeks was $1,205,000 or $0.15 per diluted share compared to $2,119,000 or $0.26 per diluted share, during the comparable period in 2001.
Mr. Watts added:"Although our sales results were disappointing, we continued our efforts to control costs and first quarter costs were within budgeted levels."
