This is what happens when I can't get out on the ice!
Ice fishing season stockholder report for 23-24.
Please be sure to read the safe-harbour statement included in your packets.
Overall, season 23/24 has seen marked improvement in several metrics compared to the ice fishing season of 22/23.
23/24 was technically a shorter season measured in ice hours compared to this time last year. In spite of this challenge, we have several improved stats to share with you.
As we all know, there is a strong correlation between hours spent in a customer-facing (fish) position in the market (water) and actual productivity (fish caught).
It's fairly safe to say that hours spent in the marketplace usually translate into increased productivity. Bear in mind that this is not the only factor. We have additional metrics to consider.
MARKET EXPOSURE:
23/24 saw 3 fishing trips compared to 2 in the previous season. That is a 50% year over year increase in market exposure!
As with the previous year, the amount of available resources (cold weather) was significantly reduced compared to the annual average.
This move appears to have been an administrative decision by our cold air vendor, which caused a major supply chain interruption.
Reductions in the supply chain directly impact market exposure opportunities.
Additional challenges include increased cost and reduced availability of advertising (bait) used to draw the customer to our brick and mortar facilities (ice shanties).
Our business model takes these challenges into account. Based on past experience, we have designed contingency plans to address and overcome these challenges.
For example, when our cold air supplier is not able or willing to keep up with the demand, we have created a mobile office that can redirect to markets not crippled by this interruption.
Years where advertising is at a premium or in a direct shortage have been known to occur frequently over the last several years.
We made the corporate decision to address this challenge in a proactive manner due to our past experiences.
Prior to the beginning of the ice season, our purchasing agents will outsource roughly 10 to 20% of our advertising. This includes gathering goldenrod gall fly larvae and oak borer larvae.
Due to other focuses in the fall months, our resources were unable to spend time in this venture this year.
Even without taking this step, there were no issues with the availability of advertising. However, since there was such an increase in advertising costs this year, it is paramount that we turn customer contact into customer conversion.
This measure is described in the table below and is our metric for ROI (Return on Investment).
ROI:
The cost formula is as follows,
Advertisement name -
(unit $ ÷ qty/unit = matriculated cost per bait).
Wax worms $4 @ 36 = $0.11
Spikes $3.50 @ 50 = $0.07
Mousees $6 @ 24 = $0.25
Mayfly $6 @ 24 = $0.25
This creates an average cost of $0.15 per ad used.
All ads are entered in inventory prior to each marketing day. Once the marketing day is complete, inventory control does a recount to find the base number needed for determining the ROI.
By taking the ad and multiplying it by the number of marketing days, we see a total of 54 ads used.
Now, we take the actual days' production and total them up.
Day 1 = 0 customer conversions.
Day 2 = 4 conversions.
Day 3 = 9 conversions.
This leaves a total of 13 conversions.
Therefore, the ROI is as follows:
$0.15 × 54 = $8.10, which is the total advertising investment.
When we divide this number by conversions,
$8.10 ÷ 13 = $0.62
This number is our actualized Return on Investment.
That brings our diluted earnings per share to $0.38 per share.
Per these data points, we are left with a dividend of $0.38/share.
Now we will open the lines for investor questions...
