Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions). Your first question comes from the line of Greg Badishkanian from Citi. Please proceed.
Greg Badishkanian - Citigroup
That's Greg Badishkanian, Citigroup. Great, thanks. Hey, guys, just a few questions here. You did a nice job in turning around business trends in the second quarter in our sales and EPS estimates. Just wanted to understand a little bit more about your more cautious outlook for second half '08? On the demand side, is it more the consumer? You're seeing a little bit more pick up in the competitive environment. Looking to kind of point to, that might lead to a little bit more tempered outlook?
Joe Redling
Hi, Greg, I think what we are seeing is what we've been seeing most of this year, really a softness on the front end demand side. Our early indicators in July, we've seen continued softness in July, and the reason for the cautious outlook is, while we've performed relatively well in the first half of the year, as you will know, that's the strongest demand periods of the year in Q1 and Q2.
As we enter into the second half of the year, we are coming into much softer demand period from a seasonality standpoint. So we just want to be cautious there. We also have some additional factors on the marketing side, with the Olympics in August, as well as the political in the fall. So we predominantly see it as taking a look at the second half of the year and reviewing that.
So, really we haven't seen any unexpected competitive activity. We expect it to kind of run its course, as we normally we see the second half of the year. So, it's really about a combination of what we are seeing in softer demand, as well as some of the external factors on the media side.
Greg Badishkanian - Citigroup
Right, yes. Absolutely, on the macro front and, I think, everyone’s seeing that, in terms of the competitive outlook. I mean, are you seeing Weight Watchers and others being stepping up marketing and advertising, or is it kind of a study?
Joe Redling
Yes, I think as you follow our business, typically we have the flexibility in our model to continue to spend through periods like the summer for a number of reasons. One is because we really manage our media based on profitability, as we did in Q2, and we also can deliver product wherever you are during the summer, where visiting a centre or being more locked to your home might be more difficult for other programs.
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