Sales increase 4 percent at Gander Mountain

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Gander Mountain Company reported sales of $269.9 million for the quarter ended Nov. 1, 2008, an increase of 4.0 percent over the prior year period, in a press release yesterday.

The company said its comparable store sales decreased 6.5 percent in the third quarter.

The 2008 period includes $14.4 million in revenue due to the expansion of the company’s direct marketing business through Overton’s.

“While the current retail environment is as difficult as any in recent memory, our efforts to conserve costs, improve operating margins, reduce capital expenditures and improve operating cash flows have borne results,” said David C. Pratt, chairman and interim chief executive officer. “We are applying a more disciplined approach to our operations, capital, and expense decisions and we remain pleased with the operational progress visible in these results at Gander Mountain.”

Net income for the third quarter was $0.77 million, or $0.03 per share, compared to a net loss of $5.1 million, or $0.25 per share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2007. Per share information for the most recent quarter reflects the issuance of an additional 4,067,797 shares of common stock in December 2007, the proceeds of which were used to partially fund the Overton’s acquisition, the company said.

For the 39 weeks ended Nov. 1, 2008, the company reported sales of $730.5 million, an increase of 12.1 percent over the comparable period in 2007. The company reported a net loss for the 39-week period of $28.5 million, or $1.18 per share, compared with a net loss of $37.6 million, or $1.86 per share, for the 39 weeks ended Nov. 3, 2007.

On retail segment sales of $256 million, a 1.6 percent decrease, retail segment net income increased to $3.7 million compared to a net loss of $5.1 million for the comparable quarter of fiscal 2007.

After this earnings release has been furnished to the SEC, a pre-recorded call offering additional comments on the quarter will be available to all investors on the company’s Web site at www.GanderMtn.com, both as a Web cast and in the form of a transcript, the company said.

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