GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Snack food maker Poore Brothers Inc. said that shareholders have approved changing the company's name to The Inventure Group Inc. They also approved the company's recommended slate of five directors and an amendment to its equity incentive plan to increase the number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance under the plan by 500,000 shares.
It implemented the name change to create a corporate identity that reflects the company's [image-nocss] diverse lineup of consumer brands, including T.G.I. Friday's, Poore Brothers, Boulder Canyon Natural Foods, Cinnabon, Bob's Texas Style, Tato Skins, Clamato and Braids snack food products, as well as private-label potato chip manufacturing and snack food distribution operations in Arizona.
The Goodyear, Ariz.-based company's shares will continue to be traded under the symbol SNAK.
Since its initial public offering in 1996, the company has evolved from a regional potato chip manufacturer and distributor to a national marketer and manufacturer, with most of its growth coming from acquisitions and new brands, particularly with licensed brand partners such as T.G.I. Friday's. The Poore Brothers brand currently accounts for less than 10% of the company's annual revenues. The company intends to continue growing all facets of its existing business as well as develop innovative new ventures in pursuit of its long-term strategic goal of becoming a $200 million marketer of intensely different consumer brands, it said.
"I would like to thank shareholders for their overwhelming support as over 99% of shareholders voting voted in favor of the name change. The name itself is derived from words that are cornerstones of our culture, including innovation, intensely different, inventive and entrepreneurial. While we are proud of our Poore Brothers legacy and intend to celebrate the 20th anniversary of our founding brand this fall with a variety of marketing activities and new products, we are pleased to now have a corporate identity that reflects the diversity of our product lines and supports our expectation for continued growth from innovation and intensely different new ventures," said Eric Kufel, the company's president and CEO.
The company recently reported financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended April 1, 2006. Net revenues for quarter were $17.6 million, 6% above last year's first quarter net revenues of $16.6 million. Net income was $100,000, compared to net income of $200,000 last year.
Net revenue growth was primarily attributable to T.G.I. Friday's snacks, Boulder Canyon Natural Foods snacks and Cinnabon cookies, offset by a slight decline from Poore Brothers snacks.
Eric J. Kufel, CEO, said in late April, "We are in the midst of implementing significant changes throughout the Poore Brothers organization. Since the beginning of the year we have taken multiple actions to improve our operating capabilities and profitability. Specifically, we reduced trade spending from second half 2005 levels, executed price increases across nearly all company brands, implemented selling, general and administrative cost reductions, led trade spending and product development process improvements and streamlined and strengthened the management team.
"We are implementing a strategy that emphasizes profitable growth by leveraging existing brands and available manufacturing capacity. We intend to launch unique new products under the T.G.I. Friday's, Poore Brothers and Boulder Canyon Natural Foods brands, several of which are better-for-you snacks. The company is also in development work on Panda Express and Cinnabon products, which we believe will result in a diverse pipeline of new snack food concepts that we intend to test in late 2006 and throughout 2007.
Recently, the company began test marketing a Hispanic-targeted snack chip under a developmental license leveraging the Clamato brand, a leading beverage amongst Hispanic consumers. This niche product is currently being tested in the vending channel.
Kufel concluded, "While pleased with the early progress of our initiatives to increase Poore Brothers profitability, we recognize meaningful growth in shareholder value will come from building brands that generate consistent long-term revenue and profit growth. While we continue to seek acquisitions, our immediate focus is improving profitability by leveraging our existing family ofbrands, excess manufacturing capacity, strong balance sheet and an organization committed to improving shareholder value."
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