Spiegel Group Post $12.3 Million 3Q Loss
Downers Grove, IL–The Spiegel Group (NYSE: SPGLA), which mails the Newport News, Eddie Bauer, and Spiegel catalogs, posted a loss of $12.3 million for the quarter ended Sept. 29. For the comparable quarter of last year, Spiegel had earnings of $13.5 million. Total third-quarter revenue fell 13%, to $703.8 million, reflecting an 11 % decrease in net sales and a 37% decrease in finance revenue. The company attributes the drop in finance revenue to slower receivables growth, lower retained-interest income from securitized receivables, and a decrease in net pretax gains from the sale of receivables. Net sales for the quarter included a 13% drop in direct sales and a 7% decrease in store sales. Web sales increased 42%, but they were offset by a 22% decrease in catalog sales.
PC Mall Ends Quarter in Black Torrance, CA–Computer reseller PC Mall (Nasdaq: MALL – news) reported an 8% decline in third-quarter net sales, to $171.9 million for the three months ended Sept. 30. Nonetheless, the cataloger reported net income of $493,000, compared with the previous third quarter’s loss of $714,000.
PC Mall’s eCOST.com and eLinux subsidiaries significantly improved their quarterly operating results from a year ago. The former reported breakeven income from operations for the quarter compared with a loss from operations of $500,000 million a year ago. As for eLinux, the outbound sales unit focused on Linux-based solutions, it reported a loss from operations of $100,000, compared with a loss of $500,000 a year ago.
Drugstore.com Cuts Its Losses Bellevue, WA—Online marketer/cataloger Drugstore.com (Nasdaq: DSCM) enjoyed a 32% hike in third-quarter net sales, to $35.0 million. What’s more, the company’s third-quarter net loss decreased from $45.7 million last year to $26.2 million. For the fourth quarter of the year, Drugstore.com expects net sales to be $40 million-$41 million, and it expects a net loss (before other non-cash expenses, amortization of intangible assets, amortization of stock-based compensation, extraordinary gain and cumulative effect adjustment) of approximately $19 million.