John McCarvel
Chief Operating Officer
Thanks, Ron. We have built a sophisticated global infrastructure. Our global business is growing steadily in all markets, especially international markets. In 2007, we grew 296 million and 264% year-over-year. Our international door growth in 2007 was 11,000 new doors, up to 19,000 total doors. This is a 137% growth from 2006. To support this rapid expansion of our wholesalers, retailers, company-operated retail stores and Internet sites, we have made and continue to make substantial strategic investments in our global manufacturing and distribution platform. Let me take this opportunity to discuss some of the initiatives in operation. In 2007, we added significant capacity throughout our global manufacturing base. This included: Opening a brand new 10 million Crocs-only factory on the campus of our second-largest partner in China. Expansion of our compounding operations in Mexico and China to improve the supply chain and reduce the costs in 2008. Adding additional third-party manufacturing in Vietnam and Bosnia. We have increased our current global production capacity by 80% and can make approximately 7.2 million pairs of shoes per month versus about 4 million this time a year ago. To keep pace with this global demand we have continued to invest in global distribution infrastructure. Distribution of our sales in 2007 was 52% in the U.S., 20% in Asia, 21% in Europe and 7% in other markets. We’ve invested in 15 distribution centers worldwide to service our customers in these regions, thus positioning ourselves better for anticipated demand for the first half of 2008. We are in the early stages of opening several major markets such as Brazil, India, China and Russia and we are positioning ourselves operationally to service those markets. We continue to invest significantly in our Global ERP, Retail POS, Internet, distribution and planning system. To meet the demands of our global business we have invested in additional talented employees. We have added approximately 2,400 new employees to the Crocs team in 2007, ending the year with a headcount of approximately 5,300 people. We’ve added senior management talent globally in key areas such as finance, IT, sales, marketing, manufacturing led by the recent appointment of Russ to the CFO position. At the same time, we have strengthened our growing retail division with the promotion Peter Case to the newly-created position of Senior Vice President of Retail. In addition to Russ and Peter, we have added a CIO and a Head of Global Distribution. I will now turn the call over to Russ who will review the financial highlights from the fourth quarter, year, and 2008 guidance in more detail.