Stephen Merrick
各位早上好，感谢参加我们的电话会议。今天与我一同出席的有我们的首席执行官John Schwan、首席财务官Tim Patterson以及投资者关系总监Stan Brown。在报告结束后，我们将回答大家可能提出的问题。总体而言，我们第一季度表现良好，销售额强劲，较去年第一季度有所增长，而去年第一季度本身也是我们历史上表现最强劲的季度之一。本季度净销售额达到15,360,000美元，而去年第一季度净销售额为15,205,000美元。铝箔气球销售额尤其强劲，从去年第一季度的8,014,000美元增长至今年第一季度的8,891,000美元，增幅约11%。我们将在几分钟后回顾该产品线强劲表现的具体情况。乳胶气球销售额也从去年第一季度的2,044,000美元增长至今年第一季度的2,105,000美元，扭转了去年经历的下降趋势。其他产品（我们的直销容器产品、派对用品销售和Candyloons产品）的销售收入持续增长，目前占本季度总收入的12%。我们第一季度的运营业绩良好，尽管略低于去年。第一季度运营收入为508,000美元，而去年为647,000美元。这一差异反映了今年第一季度较高的行政费用以及略低于去年第一季度的毛利率。本季度净利润优于去年，达到58,000美元，即每股0.02美元，而去年第一季度净利润为7,000美元。今年第一季度总利息和认股权证相关费用为358,000美元，而去年第一季度为546,000美元。较低的利息成本有助于改善我们的净利润。现在让我谈谈各产品线的具体情况。在我们的铝箔气球产品线中，我们在所有主要市场（美国、欧洲、英国和墨西哥）都经历了强劲增长。总体而言，铝箔气球销售额本季度增长近11%，从去年第一季度的8,014,000美元增长至今年第一季度的8,891,000美元。除了与我们最大的美国零售连锁客户的持续强劲销售外，我们对所有其他[Crystal]客户的铝箔气球销售额较去年第一季度增长了近55%。这一增长包括美国的一个主要新客户、对美国主要连锁店销售额的增加、欧洲的新客户以及英国、欧洲和墨西哥重要连锁客户销售额的增长。我们继续收到许多客户的强劲订单，并正在采购两台新的气球转换机以满足持续增长的需求。关于乳胶气球，我们很高兴去年经历的乳胶销售额下降趋势现已逆转。今年第一季度，乳胶销售额增长至2,105,000美元，而去年第一季度为2,044,000美元。这反映了我们通过上线新的乳胶气球生产机器以及在货币比索更强劲的市场（包括美国、英国、欧洲和澳大利亚）增加乳胶销售所实现的产量增长。我们的家居整理和容器产品线、墨西哥派对用品销售以及Candyloons产品线的收入持续增长，今年第一季度达到1,818,000美元，而去年为1,804,000美元。这些产品线的收入目前约占我们总销售额的12%。今年第一季度，我们的真空密封产品线销售收入有所下降，从去年第一季度的2,332,000美元降至1,708,000美元。然而，第一季度往往是真空密封产品最疲软的季度，我们确实预计该产品线的销售额将在今年剩余时间内改善。我们的财务状况良好。今年第一季度，我们产生了873,000美元的EBITDA以及超过300万美元的正向运营现金流。截至今年3月31日，我们在信贷额度上有2,150,000美元可用资金，现金余额为583,000美元，营运资本余额超过650万美元。我们正在与银行商谈续签信贷安排，包括安排支付或减少将于2018年1月31日到期的夹层贷款金额。在今年接下来的时间里，我们将专注于持续增长收入和盈利能力。我们预计铝箔和乳胶气球产品线的需求将持续强劲，并继续努力在真空密封和其他产品线中建立收入。同时，我们正致力于在今年实现更强的盈利水平。我们的报告到此结束。接线员，可以请您协助处理与会者的提问吗？
Stephen Merrick
Good morning, everyone, and thanks for participating in our call. I am joined today by John Schwan, our Chief Executive Officer; Tim Patterson, our Chief Financial Officer; and Stan Brown, our Director of Investor Relations. At the conclusion of our report, we will respond to questions that you may have. Overall, we had a good first quarter, sales were strong and were up over the first quarter last year which itself was one of the strongest quarters we have had. For the quarter, net sales reached $15,360,000 compared to net sales of $15,205,000 in the first quarter last year. Sales of foil balloons were particularly strong, up about 11% from $8,014,000 first quarter last year to $8,891,000 in the first quarter this year. We will review some specifics about the strength in that product line in a couple of minutes. Sales of latex balloons also increased over the first quarter last year from $2,044,000 in the first quarter last year to $2,105,000 this year reversing the declines that we had experienced last year. Revenues from the sale of other products, our direct sales container products, party goods sales and sales of Candyloons continued to increase now representing 12% of our total revenues for the quarter. Our operating results for the first quarter were good although a bit down from last year. For the first quarter, we had income from operations of $508,000 compared $647,000 last year. The difference reflects some higher administrative expenses we had in the first quarter this year as well as slightly lower gross margin rate than in the first quarter last year. Net income from the quarter was better than last year reaching $58,000 for the quarter or $0.02 per share compared to $7,000 of net profit for the first quarter last year. Our total interest and warrant related charges for the quarter this year were $358,000 compared to $546,000 for the first quarter last year. This lower level of interest costs helped our bottom line. Let me turn now to some specifics on our product lines. In our foil line, we are experiencing strong growth in all of our principal markets, the United States, Europe, the UK and Mexico. Overall, foil balloon sales were up almost 11% in the quarter from $8,014,000 in the first quarter last year to $8,891,000 this year. In addition to continued strong sales with our largest U.S. retail chain customer, our foil balloon sales to all other [Crystal] customers increased by almost 55% over the first quarter last year. This increase included a major new customer in the United States, increasing sales to a major U.S. chain, new customers in Europe and increases to our significant chain customers in the UK, Europe, and Mexico. We are continuing to experience strong orders from many customers and are acquiring two new balloon converting machines to respond to our steadily increasing demand. With respect to latex balloons, we are pleased that the decline in latex sales we experienced last year has now been reversed. For the first quarter this year, latex sales increased to $2,105,000 compared to $2,044,000 in the first quarter last year. This is a reflection of the increased production we have achieved by bringing on line our new latex balloon production machine and by increasing our latex sales in markets with stronger currencies than the peso including in the U.S., the UK, Europe, and Australia. Revenues from our home organizing and container line, our sales of party goods in Mexico and our Candyloon line have continued to increase to $1,818,000 in the first quarter this year, compared to $1,804,000 last year. Revenues from these lines now represent about 12% of our total sales. We experienced some decline in revenues from the sale of our vacuum sealing line in the first quarter this year to $1,708,000 from $2,332,000 first quarter last year. However, the first quarter tends to be the weakest quarter for vacuum sealing products and we do expect sales in that line to improve during the balance of the year. Our financial condition is good. During the first quarter this year, we generated EBITDA of $873,000 and positive cash flow from operations in the amount of more than $3 million. As of March 31 this year, we had $2,150,000 available on our line of credit, cash balances of $583,000, and a working capital balance of over $6.5 million. We are working on concluding a renewed credit arrangement with our banks including arrangements to pay or reduce the amount of our mezzanine loan, which matures on January 31, 2018. As we go forward this year, we are focused both on continuing to grow our revenues and our profitability. We anticipate continued strong demand in revenues for our foil and latex balloon lines and we continued our efforts to build revenues in each of our vacuum sealing and other product lines. At the same time, we are working to achieve stronger levels of profitability over the course of this year. That concludes our report. Operator, may we have your assistance with any questions from participants?
