Yankee Candle Reports Fiscal 2007

Yankee Holding Corp. and The Yankee Candle Company, Inc. announced retail sales were $407.7 million for the year ended December 29, 2007, a 4.9% increase compared to the year ended December 30, 2006. Wholesale sales were $329.3 million for the year ended December 29, 2007, an increase of 10.2% compared to the year ended December 30, 2006.

Total revenue for the fourth quarter was $284.7 million, a 2.5% increase over the prior year quarter—driven primarily by revenue generated in new stores, increased revenue in our European operations, increased revenue attributable to the Illuminations business (acquired in July 2006) and increased revenue in the company's fundraising business. Comparable store sales in the company's retail segment, excluding its consumer direct business and Illuminations stores, decreased 6% over the prior year quarter. Comparable sales including its consumer direct business (but excluding sales from its Illuminations stores) decreased 6% over the prior year quarter.

“We delivered positive profit and sales growth in a challenging macroeconomic environment during the fourth quarter," said Craig Rydin, chairman and CEO. "Our wholesale division exceeded our internal plans and delivered 8% net sales growth over prior year. Our retail performance was below our internal projections, as like other mall-based specialty retailers we were adversely impacted by overall mall traffic and consumer spending during the important holiday season that was well below our expectations. Lastly, our vertically integrated supply chain continued to deliver strong productivity and efficiency gains during the quarter. Once again, our employees continued to focus on serving our customers, and enabling the company to deliver a strong profitable growth performance in 2007.”

For full results, click here.
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