Year-end Update
15 June 2007
Hot Tuna (International) PLC (AIM:HTT), a lifestyle apparel brand with authentic surf heritage, announces the following update for the 12 month period ended 30 June 2007.
The current financial year ended 30 June 2007 is expected to produce results below market expectations with the loss for the year forecast to be between £3 million and £3.2 million. This loss is attributable to the investment the Group has made into the re-launch of the Hot Tuna brand, including the acquisition of the licensing rights to the Hot Tuna brand in Australia, the design of the Spring / Summer 2007 range of apparel and the continued appointment of highly experienced executives to take Hot Tuna to the next stage of its development.
The Group currently has approximately £2 million of cash resources and an equity line of credit of £2.5 million. The Board is confident that the Group has sufficient resources available to it to deliver upon its strategy.
As previously announced, the Group's new CEO, Niels Juul, joined Hot Tuna on 1 June 2007. Niels has been quick to utilise his previous valuable management experience, from his time spent at Von Dutch, in initiating a thorough review of the Group's business operations. It is the intention of both Niels and the Board to streamline the Group in terms of overheads whilst, at the same time, focusing on generating revenues from Hot Tuna apparel.
The Spring / Summer 2008 range has now been completed, with extensive input from both Niels Juul and Elle Macpherson. A priority for the Group has been to initiate sales of Hot Tuna apparel. The Spring / Summer 2007 range has been successful and the Group has received orders from retailers in all of Hot Tuna's key target markets, including the UK, Australia and the US. These orders are summarised below:
| Retailer | Geographic location |
| Free Spirit | UK |
| Extreme Pie | UK |
| Fluid | UK |
| Two Seasons | UK |
| Shore Watersports | UK |
| Cult Clothing | UK |
| Myer | Australia |
| Glue Stores | Australia |
| Surf Vision | Australia |
| Beech Street | Australia |
| Pacific Sunwear | US |
| Jacks' Surfboards | US |
| Yellow Rat Bastard | US |
| Diane Beachwear | US |
| Cocoa Beach Surf Company | US |
The apparel for the above orders has been manufactured in China, India and the United States and, the Group currently expects to report revenues of approximately £1.2 million for the 12 month period to 30 June 2007. This revenue figure is derived solely from sales of the Spring /Summer 2007 collection.
Hot Tuna is also pleased to announce that it has recently secured orders from David Jones, one of Australia's oldest and most prestigious department stores. David Jones, which operates 36 stores across Australia, has placed orders for the Hot Tuna Spring / Summer 2007 range of boys clothing (8-16 years). Delivery of the orders across all 36 stores will commence in July 2007.
Further, to the announcement 12 April 2007 of the Group's success in securing orders for its boys range (8-16 years) for delivery from end of this month, the Group is installing the first 2, of its 15 concepts stores, in Myer at the end of June 2007. The rest of the concept stores will be installed at the remaining designated Myer department stores by the end of August 2007.
Commenting on the announcement, Ranjit Murugason, Executive Chairman of Hot Tuna (International) PLC, said: "Although it is frustrating to miss our targets for the year ended 30 June 2007, I am nonetheless encouraged by current developments at Hot Tuna. The higher than forecast loss is solely due to the necessary investment that had to be made to ensure that Hot Tuna is in a position attain its future aspirations. Our Spring / Summer 2008 range has now been finished and we have already received strong feedback on our MAP brand for the Autumn / Winter 2007 collection.
"Since joining the Board as Chief Executive on 1 June 2007, Niels Juul has already commenced to strip some costs out of the business and concentrate on increasing the revenues.
"We have made good progress with our Spring / Summer 2007 range, as demonstrated by today's announcement of our order from David Jones in Australia. Our relationship with David Jones will solidify Hot Tuna's position in the Australian market which is one of the Group's core geographical territories. The fact that Hot Tuna products have now entered Australia's two most important department stores is a testament to the resurgence of the Hot Tuna brand in its heritage market."
For further information:
| Hot Tuna (International) PLC | |
| Ranjit Murugason, Chairman | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7372 9378 |
| ranjit_murugason@hottunaplc.com | |
| Seymour Pierce Limited | |
| Sarah Wharry | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7107 8000 |
| sarahw@seymourpierce.com | www.seymourpierce.com |
Media Enquiries:
| Abchurch | |
| Henry Harrison-Topham / Chris Lane | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700 |
| chris.lane@abchurch-group.com | www.abchurch-group.com |
Notes to Editors:
Hot Tuna International PLC (AIM:HTT) owns the rights to the Hot Tuna brand, a progenitor of global youth fashion, born in Australia with a heritage of authentic surf culture.
Hot Tuna is one of the world's most iconic names in surf lifestyle and can trace its roots back to 1969 when it was founded by a surfer and his fashion designer wife. Though the label had not been actively marketed over for the last decade, it retained an organic cult status among core action sports enthusiasts.
In June 2005, Hot Tuna International PLC purchased the ‘Hot Tuna' brand from Frontier International (Holdings) Pty Ltd, listed on AIM in September 2005, and has since started to aggressively market the brand and reinvigorate the business. The Company now owns all intellectual property rights to its name and related iconography, and has put in place key management drawn from the executive ranks of Quiksilver, O'Neill and Ocean Pacific, among others.
Headquartered in the UK, Hot Tuna operates design, marketing and distribution hubs in the USA, Australia and the UK. In its core markets, Hot Tuna sells products, which are directly manufactured in facilities in North America, Europe and in China.
Hot Tuna offices are maintained in Sydney, Los Angeles and London. For more information, visit www.hottunaplc.com
<< Back to press releases