WeightWatchers 2008 Annual Report Download - page 29

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Our ability to influence the control of our joint ventures may be limited by contract or otherwise. In
addition, we may not be able to influence the occurrence or timing of distributions from our joint ventures. If any
of the other investors in one of our joint ventures fails to observe its commitments, the joint venture may not be
able to operate according to its business plan or we may be required to increase our level of commitment. The
interests of our joint venture partners may differ from ours, and they may cause such entities to take actions
which are not in our best interest. If we are unable to maintain our relationships with our joint venture partners,
we could lose our ability to operate in the geographies and/or markets in which they operate, which could have a
material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Consummating these transactions could also result in the incurrence of additional debt and related interest
expense, as well as unforeseen contingent liabilities, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our
business, financial condition or results of operations. We may also issue additional equity in connection with
these transactions, which would dilute our existing shareholders.
Our business may decline as a result of a downturn in general economic conditions or consumer
confidence.
Our business is highly dependent on meeting fees, product sales and Internet product subscriptions. A
downturn in general economic conditions or consumer confidence in any of our major markets could result in
people curtailing or reallocating their discretionary spending which, in turn, could reduce attendance at our
meetings, product sales and Internet product subscriptions. The current global economic downturn has led to a
decrease in discretionary spending by consumers and loss of consumer confidence, particularly in North
America, our largest market. Any reduction in consumer spending may adversely affect our business, financial
condition or results of operations.
The seasonal nature of our business could cause our operating results to fluctuate.
We have experienced and expect to continue to experience fluctuations in our quarterly results of
operations. Our business is seasonal with revenues generally decreasing at year end and during the summer
months. This seasonality could cause our share price to fluctuate as the results of an interim financial period may
not be indicative of our full year results. Seasonality also impacts relative revenue and profitability of each
quarter of the year, both on a quarter-to-quarter and year-over-year basis. The timing of certain holidays,
particularly Easter, which precedes our spring marketing campaign and occurs between March 22 and April 25,
may affect our results of operations and the year-to-year comparability of our quarterly results. For example,
Easter fell on March 23 in fiscal 2008 and on April 8 in fiscal 2007, which resulted in the spring marketing
campaign beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2008 as opposed to the second quarter of fiscal 2007.
Any event that discourages people from gathering with others could adversely affect our business.
Our meeting operations are subject to conditions beyond our control that may prevent current or prospective
members from attending or joining meetings, including extreme weather, terrorism, health epidemics, national
disasters and other extraordinary events. For example, our NACO attendance was adversely affected in the third
quarter of fiscal 2005 by the impact of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, compounded by two subsequent
hurricanes. The occurrence of any event that discourages people from gathering with others could adversely
affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Third parties may infringe on our brand and other intellectual property rights, which may have an
adverse impact on our business.
We currently rely on a combination of trademark, copyright, trade secret, patent and other intellectual
property laws and confidentiality procedures to establish and protect our proprietary rights, including our brand.
If we fail to successfully enforce our intellectual property rights, the value of our brand, services and products
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