UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported)

July 1, 2009

 

UNIFIRST CORPORATION

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

 

 

 

 

68 Jonspin Road, Wilmington, Massachusetts 01887

(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

 

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (978) 658-8888

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 

 

 

 

On July 1, 2009, UniFirst Corporation (the “Company”) issued a press release ("Press Release") announcing financial results for the third quarter and first nine months of fiscal 2009 which ended May 30, 2009. A copy of the Press Release is attached as Exhibit 99 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

 

The information in this Item 2.02, including the exhibit attached hereto, shall not be deemed “filed” for any purpose, including for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that Section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Exchange Act, regardless of any general incorporation language in such filing.

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

 

UNIFIRST CORPORATION

 

 

 

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

 

 

Exhibit 99

 

 

 

 

 

 

UNIFIRST ANNOUNCES FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE THIRD QUARTER AND FIRST NINE MONTHS OF FISCAL 2009

 

Wilmington, MA (July 1, 2009) -- UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF) today announced results for the third quarter and first nine months of fiscal 2009, which ended on May 30, 2009.

 

Revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 were $252.1 million, a 1.0% decrease from the previous year’s $254.6 million. Third quarter net income was a record $21.7 million or $1.12 per diluted common share, a 28.0% increase from the third quarter of fiscal 2008, when net income was $16.9 million or $0.87 per diluted common share.

 

Revenues were approximately $772 million for both the first nine months of fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2008. However, on a comparable work week basis, revenues increased 2.6% during the first nine months of fiscal 2009 compared to the same period a year ago. Net income for the first nine months of fiscal 2009 was $58.8 million or $3.04 per diluted common share, a 20.8% increase from the first nine months of fiscal 2008, when net income was $48.7 million or $2.52 per diluted common share.

 

“Our top line continues to be impacted by the further decline of wearer levels at our customers as well as increased business closures,” said Ronald D. Croatti, UniFirst President and Chief Executive Officer. “Significantly lower energy prices as well as lower merchandise costs due to a lack of new employees being hired by our customers have helped drive recent profitability higher. In addition, our strong results reflect the proactive steps that we have taken to control our head count and overall cost structure in anticipation of further declines in our revenues.”

 

The Company’s core laundry revenues declined $2.9 million or 1.3% during the third quarter compared to the same quarter in fiscal 2008; however, income from operations was up 19.2%. The core laundry’s operating margin increased to 14.9% in the third quarter from 12.3% a year earlier as total expenses were down $8.3 million. The decline in expenses was primarily the result of lower energy, payroll and merchandise costs. Gasoline and natural gas costs were significantly below the prior year’s levels. Payroll costs are down as total headcount in the core laundry operations has been reduced by approximately 8% since the beginning of the calendar year. In addition, other administrative and production costs including travel expenses, are lower than those in last year’s third quarter. The Company continues to focus on reducing its overall expenses. Partially offsetting these cost benefits were higher healthcare and other payroll related costs, depreciation, bad debt expense as well as an increase to our reserve for environmental contingencies.

 

UniFirst’s Specialty Garments and First Aid segments also contributed to the Company’s overall growth in third quarter profits compared to 2008. Specialty Garments operating profit increased to $3.0 million from $1.8 million a year ago. This growth was driven primarily by improved performances from the segment’s US and Canadian power reactor business as well as its clean room operations.

 

UniFirst continues to generate strong cash flows and maintain a solid balance sheet. Cash flows from operations for the first nine months of fiscal 2009 were $109.4 million compared to $83.6 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2008. This year the Company has generated significant free cash flows which have been used primarily to reduce outstanding debt by $41.6 million. Total debt as a percentage of capital as of the end of the third quarter was 24.1%, down from 29.7% as of the end of fiscal 2008.

 

“As the economic environment remains volatile, cost control will continue to be a top priority,” Croatti said. “We anticipate that even when general economic conditions improve, our customers will be hesitant to increase employee levels too quickly and as a result it will take us longer to recover the uniform wearers that we have lost. However, our strong overall financial position allows us to continue investing significant resources selling the value of our services to prospective and existing customers.”

 

Conference Call Information

UniFirst will hold a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. (EDT) to discuss its quarterly financial results, business highlights and outlook. A simultaneous live webcast of the call will be available over the Internet and can be accessed at www.unifirst.com.

 

About UniFirst Corporation

UniFirst Corporation is one of the largest providers of workplace uniforms, protective clothing, and facility services products in North America. The Company employs nearly 10,000 Team Partners who serve more than 200,000 customer locations in 46 U.S. states, Canada, and Europe from over 200 customer service, distribution, and manufacturing facilities. UniFirst is a publicly held company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol UNF and is a component of the Standard & Poor's 600 Small Cap Index.

 

Forward Looking Statements

This public announcement may contain forward looking statements that reflect the Company’s current views with respect to future events and financial performance. Forward looking statements contained in this public announcement are subject to the safe harbor created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are highly dependent upon a variety of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in such forward looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, uncertainties regarding the Company’s ability to consummate and successfully integrate acquired businesses, uncertainties regarding any existing or newly-discovered expenses and liabilities related to environmental compliance and remediation, the Company’s ability to compete successfully without any significant degradation in its margin rates, seasonal fluctuations in business levels, uncertainties regarding the price levels of natural gas, electricity, fuel and labor, the impact of negative economic conditions on the Company’s customers and such customers’ workforce, the continuing increase in domestic healthcare costs, demand and prices for the Company’s products and services, additional professional and internal costs necessary for compliance with recent and proposed future changes in Securities and Exchange Commission (including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002), New York Stock Exchange and accounting rules, strikes and unemployment levels, the Company’s efforts to evaluate and potentially reduce internal costs, economic and other developments associated with the war on terrorism and its impact on the economy and general economic conditions. When used in this public announcement, the words “anticipate,” “optimistic,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” and similar expressions as they relate to the Company are included to identify such forward looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date on which such statements are made.

 

UniFirst Corporation and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Statements of Income

 

 

(1) Exclusive of depreciation on the Company’s fixed assets and amortization on its intangible assets

 

(2) Unaudited

 

UniFirst Corporation and Subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

 

 

(1) Unaudited

 

UniFirst Corporation and Subsidiaries

Detail of Operating Results

 

Revenues

 

 

 

 

Income from Operations

 

 

 

(1) Unaudited