Dreams, Inc., the parent of the FansEdge e-commerce site, reported its losses slightly narrowed to $1.1 million in the second quarter from $1.2 million for
the same quarter last year. Revenues declined 10%, to $12.2 million, compared to $13.6 million reported in the same quarter last year.
In the six months ended June 30, total revenues decreased 16%, to $27.0 million, versus $32.2 million a year ago. Net losses were $2.0 million versus $1.4 million in net losses for the same period last year. .
Ross Tannenbaum, Dreams' President & CEO stated, “We navigated our way through the turbulent first and second quarters with our business models and confidence intact, and no erosion of our margin. The additional challenge that the Company faced earlier this year was the forced liquidation of inventories by numerous retailers which mitigated our sales opportunities as we chose not to participate with that strategy.
“Holding to our convictions has paid off as our second quarter gross margins in our two reportable segments, i.e. manufacturing/distribution and retail have improved. This was the driving factor in showing an improved EBITDA and bottom-line results for our second quarter ended June 30, 2009, over the comparable period last year. In fact, we recorded our first positive EBITDA at our Internet division for this six and three months periods, ever. This dynamic, along with the numerous corporate savings initiatives enacted earlier this year has greatly enhanced the company's cash flow. Further internal analysis reflects net cash used in operating activities for the six months ended June 30, 2009 was $6.1 million, with only $.2 million of that figure attributed to our second quarter. Net cash provided by financing activities was $6.7 million for the first six months of this year, again with only a mere sum of $.8 million attributed to our second quarter. This is a telling trend and affirmation of the economic benefits of our focusing on controlling costs.
“As it pertains to our revenues, we closed four of our underperforming Field of Dreams stores and we strategically chose to cease selling our manufactured products to third party on-line retailers who compete against our own/syndicated sites. While this decision has caused our Manufacturing/distribution revenues to decline, our margins and retail growth improvements in the second quarter of this year vindicate this initial sales impairment.
“With the majority of our revenues generated on-line, and the consistent and substantial growth of our Internet sales, we are rapidly becoming a major player in on-line retail. In the second quarter of 2009, our on-line sales were $6.7 million and represented 55% of our consolidated sales as compared to $6.0 million and 43% in the second quarter of last year.
“Also, in the second quarter, we continued to see a strong response to the marketing of our Web Syndication services. Our portfolio of clients represents some of the largest and best known retailers and sports properties in the country. Recently, we announced the signing of our first NFL Team, the Philadelphia Eagles. We are positioned to grow this business through the addition of numerous sports-oriented companies and retailers looking to launch an e-commerce presence on the Internet or replace an existing online fan shop with a comprehensive, scalable e-commerce platform. This is the fastest growing area of the company and will remain its primary focus,” concluded Tannenbaum.
Besides FansEdge, Dreams Inc. operates Mounted Memories, Field of Dreams, Pro Sports Memorabilia, The Greene Organization, Stars Live 365, Unique Images and Malcolm Farley Art.
