Financial Reports: Staples, Excelligence

1Q Income, Sales Up at Staples
Framingham, MA-based office products conglomerate Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS) posted a 9% jump in first-quarter revenue and a 26% rise in net income. For the three months ended April 29, the cataloger/retailer netted $186 million on sales of $4.2 billion.

North American retail sales increased 7%, to $2.3 billion. Within the North American delivery unit, which includes the Quill, Medical Arts Press, and Smilemakers catalogs, revenue climbed 18%, to $1.38 billion. International business rose 6%.

Revenue Up, Net Loss Wider for Excelligence
Educational products manufacturer/marketer Excelligence Learning Corp. (OTC: LRNS) registered a nearly 11% increase in first-quarter revenue, to $25.0 million for the three months ended March 31. But the Monterey, CA-based company’s net loss more than doubled, to $904,000 from $439,000 for the first quarter of 2005. This year’s first-quarter loss includes $1.2 million in pretax legal, investigative, audit, and consultancy fees related to the restatement of certain financial results and a related investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Revenue in the Early Childhood division, which includes the Discount School Supply and Early Childhood Manufacturers’ Direct catalogs of products for preschools and educators, grew 11%; sales in the Elementary School division, which sells fund-raising kits to schools, increased 6%.

The Early Childhood division’s gross profit increased 14%, to $8.7 million, compared to $7.6 million in the first quarter of 2005. Gross profit in the Elementary School division rose to $537,000 from $477,000. As a whole, the company’s gross profit increased 14%, to $9.3 million, or 37.1% of revenue.

“While the first quarter is typically one of the seasonally slowest of the year, we generated solid revenue growth in both of our divisions,” CEO Ron Elliott said in a statement. “Our Early Childhood division led the way with nearly 11% revenue growth, mainly due to our increased sales and marketing efforts and new product offerings.”

Excelligence also announced that it has filed to have its stock relisted on Nasdaq. It was delisted earlier this year for failure to remain current with its SEC filings.