A future for Martha and Macy's?

HTT Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 3/1/2012 3:16:06 PM

New York - Despite mutual lawsuits surrounding Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's new deal with JCPenney, MSLO's president suggested this morning the relationship with Macy's may not be over.
"At Macy's, textiles were our top sellers for the quarter, and in January Macy's informed us of their plans to extend our partnership for the Martha Stewart Collection," president and coo Lisa Gersh told analysts during the company's quarterly conference call.
"As you know, there's also outstanding litigation between Macy's and MSLO, and I'm not going to comment on that today," she added.
The 10-year partnership with JCPenney was announced in December and will involve branded shop-in-shops as well as an ecommerce business. Gersh said the Penney deal is worth a minimum of $172 million in future revenue for MSLO.
The 16.6% stake JCP took in MSLO as part of the arranged helped strengthen the Stewart company's balance sheet and allowed it to pay a special one-time dividend in December of 25 cents per share, aggregating $16.7 million, she said.
For Q4 2011, MSLO merchandising revenues were up 13% to $13.1 million, primarily due to strong sales at The Home Depot. Lower revenue from advertising in publishing/broadcasting were cited as drivers of the company's overall lower revenues, which fell to $61.7 million from $72.6 million in the prior year's Q4.
Net income in Q4 included $5.0 million of other income, mostly from MSLO's sale of its interest in WeddingWire. Net income per share was flat year-over-year at 7 cents.
For the full fiscal year, revenues were $221.4 million in 2011, compared to $230.8 million in 2010. Net loss per share was 28 cents, compared to a net loss per share of 18 cents in 2010.