Jones Soda Co. announced preliminary results for its fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2011 and disclosed details about its upcoming presentation at the 14th Annual ICR XChange Conference.
The company expects revenue for the fourth quarter 2011 to increase approximately 9 percent to $3.4 million, compared to $3.1 million in the same period a year ago. For the fourth quarter of 2011, the company expects sales of its core products, which consist of continuing Jones Soda SKUs and WhoopAss Energy Drink, in North America to increase by approximately 16 percent compared to the same period a year ago, driven by expanded distribution. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2011, the company expects revenue of approximately $17.4 million and to achieve 12 percent growth compared to the prior year for its core product revenue in North America.
"We have made positive forward progress over the last 18 months in crucial areas, and are eager to continue to build upon that in 2012 and beyond," commented William Meissner, Jones Soda CEO who joined the company in April 2010 and has been enacting an aggressive turnaround strategy. "We've already achieved significant momentum for one of our key priorities, which was to return growth to our core product line. Q4 2011 was the highest year-over-year overall revenue growth quarter since 2007, and one of many factors we believe is indicating an inflection point in returning our company to sustainable growth."
At the ICR XChange Conference on Thursday, Jan. 12 Meissner will detail the company's growth strategies and business outlook, including expanding product penetration in existing grocery and mass market retail accounts, as well as gaining broader distribution in the convenience, food service, drugstore and club retailer categories.
"For expansion to new channels, we are particularly interested in capitalizing on the convenience store channel," noted Meissner. "We have come out with a new product specifically aimed at the convenience store shopper, in our new 1-ounce Jones Soda cans, as well as our WhoopAss offering launched last year. Our products perform well on shelves, but we need to focus on much greater distribution."
The 14th Annual ICR XChange Conference takes place at The Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida on Jan. 10t to 12, 2012. As previously announced, the Jones Soda presentation is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 12 at 11:30 am Eastern Time. Interested parties may listen via live audio broadcast over the Internet available at www.jonessoda.com, where connection instructions will be posted on the 'Company' page at http://www.jonessoda.com/company/jones-press/webcasts.
