Coldwater Creek, Inc. (CWTR)
Q4 2008 Earnings Call Transcript
March 4, 2009 4:45 p.m. ET

Executives

Lyn Walther – Vice President of Investor Relations
Daniel Griesemer – President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer & Director
Timothy Martin – Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Georgia Shonk-Simmons – President, Chief Merchandising Officer & Director

Analysts

Christopher Kim – JPMorgan & Chase & Co.
Roxanne Meyer – UBS
Jeff Black – Barclays Capital
Liz Dunn – Thomas Weisel Partners
Eric Beder – Brean Murray, Carret & Co.
Jennifer Milan – Sterne, Agee & Leach

Presentation

Operator

Greetings ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Coldwater Creek Inc. fourth quarter and full-year 2008 conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press “*0” on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ms. Lyn Walther, VP of Investor Relations for Coldwater Creek. Thank you. Ms. Walther, you may begin.

Lyn Walther

Thank you. Good afternoon everyone. With me on the call today are Daniel Griesemer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Georgia Shonk-Simmons, President and Chief Merchandising Officer, and Tim Martin, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

I would like to remind everyone that the statements contained in this conference call that are not historical facts constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities laws. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties are described in today''s press release and in the company''s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. No one should assume later in the quarter that the comments we provide today are still valid. Moreover, we are not undertaking any obligation to provide updates in the future.

With that out of the way, I''d like to turn the call over to Dan.

Daniel Griesemer

Thanks Lyn. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and thank you for joining us as we discuss our results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year end January 31, 2009. Today, my remarks are going to focus on our 2008 results, the discipline we implemented throughout the year to manage our business through this volatile environment, the steps we have taken to strengthen our balance sheet and the initiatives we are implementing in 2009 to best position our company for the future.

Tim will give you additional detail on our operating and financial results and Georgia will then provide an update on our merchandising initiatives. Then I will make a few closing remarks before opening the call up for your questions.

In fiscal 2008 we achieved sales of $1 billion and a net loss of $0.29 per share. While we believe our financial performance reflects the challenging macroeconomic environment facing many retailers, we''re clearly not satisfied with our fourth quarter and full-year sales and earnings results.

Successful management of the controllable aspects of our business including our expenses, inventory and balance sheet was not enough to offset the overall macroenvironment, the challenging traffic and promotional nature of the holiday season.

We did end the year with a strong balance sheet, having taken a conservative approach to our business and the management of our expense and cash positions throughout the year. As a result, our liquidity position remains very solid and included $81 million in cash and no borrowings under our credit facility at the end of the year.

We also recently further strengthened our capital position by entering into an expanded credit facility with Wells Fargo which Tim will review in a moment.

Our sizeable cash position and the backing of strong liquidity position gives us the financial flexibility to navigate through a prolonged economic downturn while continuing to invest in our merchandise and customer experience.