Educational Development Corporation (EDC), headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, operates in the publishing industry with a focus on children's educational materials. The company operates through two main segments: PaperPie (formerly Usborne Books & More) and Publishing. The PaperPie segment distributes children's books, educational toys, and games through a network of independent ...Educational Development Corporation (EDC), headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, operates in the publishing industry with a focus on children's educational materials. The company operates through two main segments: PaperPie (formerly Usborne Books & More) and Publishing. The PaperPie segment distributes children's books, educational toys, and games through a network of independent consultants, offering economic opportunities to families while promoting literacy. The Publishing segment includes the company's own Kane Miller books, which publishes children's literature from around the world, as well as Learning Wrap-Ups and SmartLab Toys. EDC is the exclusive U.S. distributor for Usborne Publishing Limited, a leading UK publisher. Founded in 1965, the company has a long history in children's publishing. The company's mission is to deliver educational excellence one book at a time, touching the lives of children and fostering family values. Financially, EDC has a market cap of approximately $11.8 million, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.97, indicating a low valuation relative to earnings. The company generates revenue primarily from book sales and has a net profit margin of 15.7%. As of the latest data, it employs around 64 employees, though some sources suggest ranges up to 200. The CEO is Craig White, who has led the company through various strategic initiatives. EDC also emphasizes community and education, aligning with its mission to provide quality educational products. The company faces challenges in a competitive market but leverages its exclusive distribution agreements and unique product offerings to maintain a niche position. With a focus on direct sales and digital platforms, EDC continues to adapt to changing market conditions.
Operator: Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for participating in today's conference call to discuss Educational Development Corporation's financial and operating results for its fiscal 2027 first quarter results. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. On the call today are Craig White, President and Chief Executive Officer, Heather Cobb, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, and Dan O'Keefe, Chief Financial Officer. After the market closed this afternoon, the company issued a press release announcing its results for the fiscal 2027 first quarter results. The release will be available later today on the company's website at www.edcpub.com. Before turning to the prepared remarks, I would like to remind you that some of the statements made today will be forward-looking and are protected under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied due to a variety of factors. We refer you to Educational Development Corporation's recent filing with the SEC for a more detailed discussion of the company's financial condition. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Craig White, the company's President and Chief Executive Officer. Craig?
Craig White: Thank you, Chloe, and welcome everyone to the call. We appreciate your continued interest. I will start today's call with some general comments regarding the quarter. I will pass the call over to Dan to run through the financials, after which Heather will provide an update on sales and marketing and IT projects, and then I will provide an update on our plans for the rest of fiscal 2027. During March, we ran a recruiting special surrounding our March 14th, Pi Day, which yielded better than expected results. We added over 1,300 new brand partners, which brought our active brand partner numbers above 5,200, and we have maintained this level of brand partners to this day. This was a 20% growth in brand partners numbers since the end of last year, and continuing our brand partner growth is a key focus. Also, at the beginning of the quarter, we made several expense reductions, which are expected to exceed $1.2 million in savings for the fiscal year. These savings, which include decreases in pay for our executive team, were made to improve our cash flow and give us the ability to continue to execute our conservative purchasing plan to replenish some of our best-selling titles, as well as bring in new titles. Bringing in new titles energizes our brand partners and gives our retail reps some new products to present. I'm happy to say that many of these new titles came in throughout the last several months, and we have introduced them with much very early success. That is some confirmation that our strategy is on point. The results for the quarter were driven by our lower revenue levels, offset by lower expenses. The focus of our fiscal 2027 turnaround plan remains on growing our revenue and brand partner levels back to …