iTurf Reports Record First Quarter Financial Performance
-- Net Revenues Increase Nearly 40 Times -- -- E-commerce Customers Nearly Double During Quarter -- -- Results Significantly Exceed Analysts' Expectations --
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 2, 1999-- iTurf Inc. (Nasdaq:TURF - news), a leading provider of Internet community, content and commerce services for Generation Y, today announced record sales for the first quarter ended May 1, 1999.
Net revenues for the first quarter increased nearly 40 times to $2.6 million from $69,000 in the first quarter of last year. The gross profit for the first quarter was $1.3 million, or 49.1% of revenues compared to $34,000, or 49.3% of revenues in the first quarter of last year. Selling, general and administrative expenses totaled $1.8 million, or 67.0% of revenues, compared to $109,000, or 158.0% of revenues a year ago. The Company reported a net loss for the quarter of $197,000, or $0.01 per share, compared to a net loss of $53,000, or $0.00 per share a year ago.
Quarter over quarter, iTurf's traffic grew 74.1% to 50 million page views in the month of April, compared to 29 million page views in January, 1999. That traffic is up from 4 million page views in April, 1998. The Company also reported 731,000 unique visitors in April, as measured by Media Metrix, compared to 635,000 unique visitors in February, the first month for which consolidated numbers were available. Finally, cumulative commerce customers increased 88.1% during the first quarter to approximately 66,000 from 35,000 as of January 31, 1999.
Commenting on the results, Stephen Kahn, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, ''Our strong first quarter performance was driven by ongoing momentum in all of our businesses on the network. We continue to enjoy increased traffic to both our e-commerce and community websites, and believe these trends are testament to our expanding reach as the leading Generation Y online network. We are very pleased with these results, and expect we will continue to benefit from our aggressive growth initiatives, customer acquisition programs, and strategic alliances going forward.''
''As we look ahead to the balance of the year, we are enthusiastic about the Company's many opportunities for continued growth. We are building on a solid foundation, as iTurf already boasts one of the largest and fastest-growing online communities focused on Generation Y in the country, gURL.com, and a successful subscription-based discount service through discountdomain.com. In addition, during the quarter we added two new e-commerce properties, dotdotdash.com and storybookheirlooms.com, both of which target the younger sisters of the core dELiAs.cOm consumer. The rapid growth of our e-commerce sales through our seven e-commerce properties is evidence of our focus on offering the right product to Generation Y, and also reflects this growing demographic group's heavy use of the web.''
Mr. Kahn continued, ''Importantly, our substantial planned investment in sales and marketing will facilitate our efforts to further build iTurf's presence in this marketplace. We are also very excited by our ability to leverage the powerful direct marketing infrastructure of our parent, including the proprietary 11 million name database of target consumers. Finally, we remain very excited about our recently announced strategic alliance with AOL. This agreement provides us with a key opportunity to reach the largest consumer audience in cyberspace, which not only gives us significant customer acquisition opportunities, but also serves as an important brand building vehicle.''
Mr. Kahn concluded, ''We are off to a great start in 1999, and are confident that our commitment to providing the merchandise, content and services sought by Generation Y will enable us to set the standard as the dominant online destination for the most wired segment of the on-line universe.''
iTurf Inc., a subsidiary of dELiA*s Inc. (Nasdaq:DLIA - news), is a leading provider of Internet community, content and commerce services focused primarily on Generation Y. iTurf is an online destination, or network of websites, offering interactive magazines, proprietary content, chat rooms, posting boards, personal homepages, e-mail, and online shopping consisting of a wide range of apparel, footwear, athletic gear and home furnishings.
With the exception of the historical information contained in this press release, the matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors beyond the Company's control, which may cause material differences in actual results, performance or other expectations. These factors are detailed in the Company's registration statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
iTurf Inc.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Thirteen Weeks
Ended Ended
4/30/98 5/1/99
Net revenues $ 69 $ 2,615
Cost of product sales 35 1,332
Gross profit 34 1,283
Selling, general and administrative
expenses 109 1,753
Interest (income) expense, net 11 (112)
Loss before income taxes (86) (358)
Income tax benefit (33) (161)
Net loss $ (53) $ (197)
Basic and diluted net loss per share $ (0.00) $ (0.01)
Shares used in the calculation of
basic and diluted net loss per share 12,500 13,413
iTurf Inc.
SELECTED BALANCE SHEET DATA
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)
January 31, 1999 May 1, 1999
Assets
Current Assets
Cash and cash equivalents $ 375 $ 81,330
Total current assets 375 81,330
Deferred offering costs 110 0
Property and equipment 414 873
Other assets 317 348
Total assets $ 1,216 $ 82,551
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
Current Liabilities
Accounts payable and other
current liabilities $ 263 $ 1,094
Due to dELiA*s 573 1,574
Total current liabilities 836 2,668
Stockholders' Equity 380 79,883
Total liabilities and stockholders'
equity $ 1,216 $ 82,551
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Contact:
iTurf Inc., New York
Dennis Goldstein
Chief Financial Officer
212/742-1640
or
Morgen-Walke Associates, New York
Investor: Stacey Bibi/Amanda Mullin/
Bernadette Maglione
Media: Stacy Berns/Lauren Gargano
212/850-5600 |
