News - earnings expected 3/17, what to expect
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. (ELBO) expects fiscal fourth-quarter net income to grow at least 31%, spurred by rising revenue and efficiencies from investments in its distribution operations, according to Joseph J. Firestone, the company's president and chief executive.
In an interview, Firestone told Dow Jones he expects the West Chester, Pa.-based video-game and entertainment-software retailer to report net income of between $15 million and $17 million, or between 77 cenets and 81 cents a diluted share, for the three months ended Jan. 31. The company, which had an initial public offering in July, reported pro forma net income of $11.4 million, or 72 cents, a year ago. Firestone said he expects revenue to rise at least 24% to between $250 million and $255 million from $202 million last year.
Sales in stores open at least a year rose 11% to 15% in the fourth quarter and by the same margin for the year, the company said.
Electronics Boutiques' results are expected to be released March 17.
Firestone said the company benefited from a distribution system that replenishes the company's 528 stores five times a week and gets highly time-sensitive games onto shelves promptly. The bulk of video game and software sales take place in the first two weeks of their release.
For the year, the company expects to post net income of between $18 million to $20 million, or $1.03 to $1.08 a share, compared with pro forma net income of $11.7 million, or 74 cents, Firestone said. Revenue will be $570 million to $575 million, compared with $454 million, he said.
Included in the 1999 yearly revenue figure is between $1.5 million and $1.75 million from a licensing and service agreement with the company's U.K. affiliate, Electronics Boutique PLC. Firestone said he expects that figure to rise this year.
For 1999, Firestone said he expects the company to open 100 new stores in the U.S., Australia and Canada and to post yearly sales of about $750 million.
Firestone also said the company posted sales from its Internet site, ebworld.com, of about $4.5 million in 1998 and expects the figure to quadruple this year. He said he also expects a boost from the release this fall of Sega Enterprises Ltd.'s Dreamcast game and later of Sony Corp.'s next-generation PlayStation.
-Dean Starkman (201) 938-5099 |
