Net interest expense for the quarter was $7.2 million versus $5.6 million last year. The increase reflects changes in our new tax structure. On a GAAP basis first quarter net loss from continuing operations was $18.8 million or $0.35 per share compared to last year’s net income of $18.5 million or $0.35 per share. In accordance with FAS 109 paragraph 140, our results from continuing operations on both a GAAP and adjusted basis reflect a tax benefit of $10.6 million or $0.20 per share. This tax benefit is the result of a gain in other comprehensive income recorded in the first quarter based on the company revaluing its pension plan assets and liability. On an adjusted basis our first quarter net loss from continuing operations excluding restructuring charges and store asset impairment was $12.4 million or $0.23 per share as compared to last year’s net income of $22.3 million or $0.42 per share. Attached to this morning’s press release financials is a spreadsheet table which details the reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP or adjusted results from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2009. In discontinued operations the net loss of $4.8 million or $0.09 per share compared to last year’s net loss of $16.9 million or $0.32 per share.

Moving to the balance sheet we ended the first quarter with total accounts receivable of $187 million versus $227 million last year. Our receivables remain in excellent condition. As a result of our ongoing focus on managing inventory levels we ended the quarter with $191 million of inventory down 24.5% to last year. We ended the quarter with $475 million of total net debt outstanding compared to $436.4 million of total debt outstanding in the same period last year. With the addition of our new $150 million revolving loan facility announced earlier this year, we believe we have excess capacity to fund our working capital needs. Currently we are un-drawn on this facility.

Capital expenditure from continuing operations was $8 million compared to $10 million last year. Our capital expenditure plans for 2009 are currently forecasted at $27 million compared to $45 million last year. Before detailing our second quarter outlook I’d like to touch on an important point. This continues to be an uncertain environment and predictability on consumer spending behavior remains difficult. Therefore we are taking additional actions to improve our operating efficiency and reduce our costs. Today we announced additional corporate workforce reductions of approximately 20% for annualized savings of approximately $21 million. We now have identified approximately $125 million of our $150 million cost reduction program. Aggressive cost control is an ongoing initiative and we will continue to refine our cost structure in line with our sales.

Looking ahead, we are projecting a second quarter loss per share from continuing operations net of any special items to be in the range of $0.50 to $0.58 compared to an adjusted loss per share of $0.18 reported last year. We are currently planning for sales to be down in the low 20% range compared to last year’s second quarter. Cost of sales, buying and occupancy rate is expected to increase by approximately 300 to 400 basis points compared to last year as a result of expense de-leveraging offset by improved merchandise margins. SG&A expenses for the second quarter are expected to be up approximately 100 to 150 basis points compared to last year as a result of expense de-leveraging. In absolute dollars SG&A would be reduced by approximately 20%. Our task remains conservative we look for slow but steady progress given the environment. Our priorities include expense management, liquidity and cash flow, closing the J Jill sale and finalizing an agreement with Li & Fung. Thank you. Now I’ll turn it back to Trudy.

Trudy F. Sullivan

Thanks Mike. In summary we are in a stronger position today. We are clearly not underestimating the effects of the economy or the work that lies ahead of us but we do feel good about our progress and our long-term prospects. So, with that we’ll be very happy to take your questions.

Operator

(Operator instructions) Ladies and gentlemen at this time we will be opening up the call for question-and-answer session. Please press “*1” on your touchtone phone if you’d like to ask a question. In order to allow time for everyone’s queries to be answered please limit your questions to one. Your first question is from the line of Todd Slater with Lazard Capital Markets.

Todd Slater – Lazard Capital Markets

Thanks very much and congrats guys. We’ve obviously seen a nice improvement in the assortment although it has not necessarily translated obviously in the first quarter but I’m really curious to hear about the sort of inflexions you saw in April and May. I was hoping you could elaborate and I’m just wondering if you can generate enough top line in the mix shift to more key items under $100 to get enough excitement if the product begins to look a little more basic and my segue to that question is number 2, you’ve done an impressive job on the cost side as well and obviously lowering your leverage break point although it is still projecting some deterioration on the de-leverage. I’m just wondering what type of revenue level you need to reverse the de-leverage to get some leverage? Thank you.

Trudy F. Sullivan

Thanks Todd. Let me take the first part of your question and then I’ll pass it to Mike for the second. I think we have seen as the season has progressed we have seen momentum build against our deliveries in April and May and certainly although we are seeing her buy in the key item side of the assortment I would not describe this as basic product. These are more Talbot iconic products, great T-shirts, great polos, great cardigans, great casual pants and so I think we can add I’ve seen both categories build momentum as the season progresses. We do have a customer on the upper end of the assortment but that’s where we have seen a little bit even more judicious in her spending. I think the strength of her buying pattern actually plays to our strength in the second quarter because we are focused on this kind of casual relaxed key items business. Essentially we learnt a lot about what we did in first quarter. I mean there was some…we are still learning. There was some misstep in our March assortment I think on some of the color that we put out there. So, we live and learn. We reacted very quickly to the color preferences, the style preferences and we feel good about…our assortments I believe get stronger and stronger as our team is able to incorporate these learnings. You have to remember that this team is just hitting its stride. They are here about a year together now and so I’m really proud of how dynamic they are in terms of taking what’s good and optimizing it and taking what’s not working and change it. So, but as a long answer to your question as the season progressed in April and May, we are certainly seeing good response and June is just at the post and so it is really too early to give a comment there.

Todd Slater – Lazard Capital Markets

Okay on the color, on the missteps in March you said were mostly due to color. What were the missteps? Was it related to product, style or what have you?

Trudy F. Sullivan

We started the season as you’ll probably remember with a group called Marrakesh in February. It was all done in tonal, in peach and lavender and very pretty palettes. She loved it, reacted well there. We stayed on this kind of ethnic sensor that we got in March but the palettes got much harder. It was on in lime green and she wasn’t able to accept it. A bad palette issue was the prettier pink palette. We changed the palette to much of the black and white group which actually came in and did quite well and I’d say April and May deliveries are what I call iconic Talbot color palette offers and she reacted extremely well in the casual side. Well the fact is she doesn’t seem to have as much interest in the refined side of the assortment for whatever reason and finally it is truly important that we do our own pretty aggressive internal research on just where the consumer’s head is. We just finished the third panel of this research and we are seeing that she is still in a very conservative mode. She is liking the product. Our net promoter scores are improving but she is still very cautious about shopping. And what she tells us is it is not that she is taking her spend some place else. She is just still in a cautious mood from an overall desire to be purchasing. So, we are watching this very closely and hopefully it will start to ease up. The good news is it hasn’t gotten worse. It has started to ease up very slightly. So, we are watching it through the second quarter but it is what leads us to stay in a very conservative operating frame of mind. Now, Mike if you want to…

Todd Slater – Lazard Capital Markets

Right thanks and Mike?

Michael Scarpa

I think you are going to start to see the change in the ratios this year to last year start to moderate. We are seeing in Q2 as across the sales, buying and occupancy rose from 950 to 300 to 400 basis points difference. When we look at SG&A we were up 480 in Q1. We are now projecting 100 to 150. I think when we start to enter the second half of the year obviously our comps get a little easier. We have put into place now 125 of the 150 cost reduction program so that will kick in full force in the second half of the year and you are also going to see continued improved IMUs as we continue to push that lever and our inventory will be in much better position that when we were in Q1. So, overall I think we will see a very moderate difference as we go through Q2 and in Q3 and Q4 I think you are going to start to see it turn around. Our last year Q4, was a disaster for us. Our margins were not where we needed them to be. Our cost of sales, buying and occupancy was almost 85%. Our overhead was almost 43%, so much easier comparisons as we move to the second half of the year.