DENVER, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Ultimate Electronics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ULTE) today announced its sales results
for the two months ended December 31, 2002.
Sales for the two months ended December 31, 2002 were $183,000,000, a 13%
increase from sales of $162,300,000 for the same period in the previous year.
Comparable store sales were down 10% for the two months ended December 31,
2002.
Ed McEntire, Chief Executive Officer, stated, "As previously reported on
December 23, 2002, comparable store sales were down 6% for November and down
15% for the first 22 days of December. Comparable store sales for December
rebounded slightly to finish down 12% for the month. Even though total sales
for the holiday season did not meet our expectations, we remain confident in
the long-term prospects for our business model and product mix. With these
prospects in mind, we plan to continue our expansion program in 2003 with a
total of eight new stores, one store relocation and seven store remodels. In
2003, we plan to enter the Austin, Texas market with two stores, the Kansas
City market with four stores and the Wichita, Kansas market with one store.
We plan to open the eighth of our new stores scheduled for 2003 in Maple
Grove, Minnesota, which will represent our seventh store in the
Minneapolis - St. Paul metropolitan area. In conjunction with the opening of
our Maple Grove store, we plan to change the name of all our Minnesota stores
from 'Audio King' to 'Ultimate Electronics.'"
Alan Kessock, CFO stated, "We expect total sales for fiscal 2003 to finish
between $700 million and $710 million. With comparable store sales in fiscal
2004 anticipated to be between flat and 2% and with 20 new stores (12 opened
in 2002 and eight anticipated to open in 2003), we expect total sales for
fiscal 2004 to be between $820 million and $840 million. Along with our
concentration on revenue growth, we intend to continue implementing programs
throughout the Company to reduce our expenses per dollar of revenue."
Ultimate Electronics is a leading specialty retailer of home entertainment
and consumer electronics products in 13 states. The Company operates
58 stores, including 39 stores in Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri,
Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Utah under the trade
name Ultimate Electronics(R), 11 stores in Colorado under the trade name
SoundTrack(R) and eight stores in Minnesota under the trade name Audio
King(R). In addition, the Company operates Fast Trak, Inc., an independent
electronics repair company based in Minnesota and a wholly owned subsidiary of
Ultimate Electronics. During the past two years, the Company received
numerous industry awards including Audio Video International's 2001 "Consumer
Electronic's Retailer of the Year," Dealerscope's "Pride Award," and Twice
Magazine's "Excellence in Retailing."
The statements made in this news release, other than those concerning
historical financial information, are forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements are made based upon management's current
expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential
effects upon the Company. These forward-looking statements include statements
regarding sales and comparable store sales expectations for fiscal 2003 and
2004, the number and location of new, relocated and remodeled stores for
fiscal 2004, the renaming of our Minnesota stores and the implementation of
expense reduction programs. Actual results may differ materially from those
included in the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors beyond
our control, including, but not limited to: changes in general economic
conditions, customer responsiveness to new products, shifts in merchandise
mix, activities of our competitors, the challenges associated with entering
new markets, terrorism and acts of war, and other risk factors identified in
the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31,
2002, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There can be no
assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those
anticipated by management. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or
revise any of the forward-looking statements that are in this news release.
SOURCE Ultimate Electronics, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.ultimateelectronics.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/877054.html
CONTACT:
Alan E. Kessock, Chief Financial Officer of
Ultimate Electronics, Inc., +1-303-801-4000,
alan.kessock@ulte.com
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