Next Inc., which owns the Campus Traditions USA sports licensing business,  reported second quarter sales slipped to $2.11 million from $2.16 million a year ago. The company posted a net loss $559,796, or 2 cents a share, in the period compared with a loss of $570,645, or 3 cents, a year ago.



For the six months ended May 30, sales were $4,658,167, compared to $5,783,233 a year ago. The loss of $895,211, or 4 cents a share, against a loss of $961,601, or 5 cents a share, for the same period.

David Cole, the company's CFO, stated, “The quarter’s gross operating margins were down slightly this year over last primarily due to adverse sales mix changes, higher consumables spending and samples expense for upcoming lines. Those increases were partially offset by continuing improvements in expense and productivity management. We also benefited from lower interest rates this year, which brought our pre-tax losses back in line with last year.”


Cole continued, “Our focus on controlling costs has resulted favorably on our operating results over the last eighteen months in a difficult selling environment. We will also continue to emphasize wise management of cash within the constraints of our lending agreements. With current customer commitments, our inventories should begin to drop over the balance of the year, where we expect our cash position will benefit directly.”


Robert Budd, the company’s CEO, stated, “We continue to be pleased with the trend of improvements in quarter over quarter net operating margin. Our retained focus on working towards improving our sales volumes resulted in sales that were on par with last year for the quarter. Although at first glance, this may not sound like a notable accomplishment, it is worth noting that overall retail sales were down significantly in the same period. Our view of the lower year-to-date sales level continues to be that it is not indicative of future sales growth potential. As we review our current sales pipeline, there is currently cause for cautious optimism looking at the balance of the year. We will continue to review new opportunities to diversify sales into new distribution channels, and improve existing ones, such as our recent GSI Commerce announcement. We will also continue to fortify valuable customer relationships, creating immeasurable goodwill that has the potential to yield material sales improvements as they see increased retail spending.”