Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc. (NASDAQ:RMCF) reported results for Q1 2015, with a decline in factory and retail sales attributed to the impact of winter storms and a soft retail environment.

Adjusted EPS of $0.14 was down from $0.19 in Q1 2014 and missed the estimate of $0.24 from one analyst polled by Thomson/First Call, if comparable. Total revenues of $10.3 million for the quarter were up slightly from $10.2 million in Q1 2014 but missed analyst projection of $11.35 million.

Same-store sales at the company’s domestic Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store locations decreased 0.3% in Q1, when compared with the prior-year period. Same-store pounds of product purchased from the company’s factory in Durango declined 4.9% from prior-year levels. Factory sales decreased 6.6%, while factory adjusted gross margins declined to 28.8% from 30.4% a year earlier. Retail sales rose 4.6%, while retail gross margin improved to 67.1% percent of retail sales, versus 65.7% in the first quarter of FY2014.

The company’s majority-owned subsidiary, U-Swirl, reported a 124% improvement in net income, which totaled $376,563 in Q1, compared with net income of $168,079 in Q1 of FY2014.

The company has announced that its Board of Directors has approved a new 3 million share stock buyback program. The Board also cancelled a previous stock repurchase program, under the terms of which the company would have been able to buy back up to $1.2 million of RMCF shares. Shares of RMCF are down $0.34, or 2.56%, at $12.95 with a 52-week range of $11.31 – $13.98.

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