Lingerie Football League makes its Saskatoon debut – Regina Leader

The Lingerie Football League’s first outing in Saskatoon offered exactly what the league promised. Women in bras, bikini bottoms and shoulder pads played a game of football, complete with hard hits, a few nice catches and a lot of extra showmanship.

The hometown Saskatoon Sirens beat the visiting B.C. Angels 22-18. An early second-half touchdown put the Sirens up 22-6, and while B.C. put up two more touchdowns, they were unable to convert them and ran out of time.

The post-game atmosphere around the Sirens’ locker-room was made up of the enthusiasm that can only come from a win.

“What a great way to start this league in Saskatoon, with kicking the (butts) of the first-place team in the league,” said Amanda Stalwick, one of the few Saskatoon-based Sirens who actually saw a fair amount of field time.

The event had the air of sports entertainment. Players showboated after big plays, and contact after the whistle seemed to be encouraged. The stadium announcer did what he could to stir up the crowd, at one point even leading them in a chorus of “B.C. Sucks.”

While the Credit Union Centre was far from full, with the lower bowl at about 20-to 25-per-cent capacity, those in attendance seemed to enjoy themselves quite a bit.

Loud cheers erupted during the pre-game pageantry and after big plays in the Sirens’ favour.

The game was played seven a side on a 50-yard field enclosed by the regular hockey boards at CUC with the Plexiglas removed.

The presence of boards led to some very painfullooking hits when players opted to run on the outside.

The vast majority of field time for the Sirens went to the women who had been imported from outside Saskatoon, including four from the United States.

While it may have been disappointing for anyone wanting to see more of the Saskatoon-born members on the roster, it did result in a well-played football game.

While no additional emphasis was placed on the skimpy uniforms during the game itself, the overall production was clearly aimed at a demographic that wanted more than just football.

Rather than starting the game at 8 p.m., as advertised, the Sirens engaged in a somewhat awkward pre-game stretching session.

The 15-woman roster lined up at five-yard intervals and performed lunges and toe touches, prompting a few roars from the crowd.

Halftime offered another awkward moment as a male fan was brought on to the field and given the opportunity to tackle a Sirens player.

For Stalwick, pre-game nerves had everything to do with her never having played football before, and nothing to do with the minimalist uniforms.

“I’ve raced track. I’ve raced triathlon. I’m used to wearing this kind of thing. We don’t wear garters, but we’re out there. No one is thinking about what we’re wearing. We’re out there playing a hard game of football,” she said.

Sirens head coach Chris Lambiris felt the team put on a good enough show that fans should come back for another look.

“The crowd was happy after the game. A lot of fans are really excited about it. It was entertaining, lots of fun, and great football,” he said.

The Sirens’ next game will be a road game against the Toronto Triumph on Sept. 15. Their next home game will be Oct. 6, when they play host to the Regina Rage.

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Sales rise marginally at lingerie retailer Etam in H1

French lingerie and clothing retailer The Etam Group has announced financial result for the first half of 2012.

Sales And Gross Margin

The Etam Group generated net sales of €592.7 million during the first half of 2012, an increase of 0.5% vs. the first half of 2011, including a positive currency effect of €21.5 million relating mainly to the appreciation of the yuan against the euro. Like-for-like and at constant exchange rates, sales were down 7.6%.

Gross margin improved to 58.5% compared with 56.8% in the first half of 2011. This improvement of 1.7 points was made possible by more favourable buying conditions, better inventory management, lower discounts and the solid sales performance of collections.

Earnings

The Group generated an operating income of €18.8 million in the first half of 2012 compared with €14.3 million in the first half of 2011, i.e. an improvement of 32.1% or 0.8 points of sales.

In Europe, the operating income came to €12.8 million compared with a loss of €0.6 million during the comparable period in 2011. This turnaround – which was particularly evident, thanks to the action plan implemented by its Management – came from gross margin increase, streamlining of the store network and cost savings.

In China, where the Group suffered a slowdown in growth and an increase in costs, particularly staff costs, the operating income came to €6.1 million in the first half of 2012 compared with €14.8 million for the comparable period in 2011.

Consolidated net income totalled €8.9 million compared with €4.3 million in the first half of 2011. After minority interests of €1.1 million compared with €3.1 million in the first half of 2011, net income (Group share) rose sharply to €7.8 million compared with €1.2 million in the comparable period in 2011.

Balance Sheet

The change in working capital requirement represented a cash inflow of €15.9 million in the first half of 2012 compared with a cash outflow of €19.8 million in the first half of 2011.

Net operating capital expenditures totalled €14.9 million compared with €27.7 million in the first half of 2011, invested primarily in the lingerie activities in Europe and in the Group’s expansion in China.

After interest and tax, free cash flow came to  an inflow of  €35.4 million in the first half of 2012 compared with an outflow of €29.7 million in the first half of 2011.

At 30 June 2012, net debt stood at €146.2 million compared with €203.1 million at 30 June 2011, a reduction of €56.9 million, representing 46.4% of shareholders’ funds compared with 68.1% at 30 June 2011.

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