Talon International Results for The First Quarter Ended March 31, 2014

Talon International, Inc., a leading global supplier of zippers, apparel fasteners, trim and stretch technology products, reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014.

Highlights
-Sales in Q1 2014 were $11.3 million -- an 11.9% increase over Q1 2013.
-Trim sales rise 28.1% over same sales in Q1 2013.
-Q1 2014 Gross profit of $3.7 million – an increase of 17.6% over Q1 2013.

Financial Results
"Once again we are pleased to see continued growth and improvement throughout our business, even during our historically slowest quarter of the year,” said Lonnie Schnell, Talon's Chief Executive Officer. “We saw solid performance across our product lines, especially in Trim, as our positions with core customers continued to grow and we concentrated on adding new global brand nominations to our marquee list of customers. We ended the first quarter strongly, achieving profitability strictly from operations," Schnell continued.

Total sales for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 were $11.3 million reflecting an 11.9% year-over-year increase compared to the first quarter of 2013. Zipper sales were $5.8 million for the quarter, virtually even with zipper sales in the same period in 2013. Zipper sales reflected some softness in sales within mass merchandizing brand customers, but this was mostly offset by increased sales within our strategically focused specialty retail brand customers.

Trim sales of $5.5 million in the first quarter of 2014 reflected a strong increase of 28.1% from the first quarter of 2013, as specialty customers continued to grow their core programs with the Company at an increased rate.  Sales for the quarter included $5,945 of Tekfit patented stretchable waistbands, a slight decline from Q1 2013, but evidenced the continuation of test marketing programs with several major retailers who are considering the adoption of this product into their core product categories.

Gross profit for the three months ended March 31, 2014 was $3.7 million or 32.9% of sales, as compared to $3.2 million for the first quarter of 2013; an increase of 17.6%. The gross profit increase for the quarter as compared to the same period in 2013 was principally attributable to greater overall sales volumes in the Trim segment and improved product mix of sales to specialty retailers as opposed to discount mass merchandisers, partially offset by higher manufacturing support, freight and duty costs.