INTERNET--(esecurities.W)--April 29, 1999 - "Riddell Sports Inc. Announces Improved First Quarter 1999 Results; Revenues Rise 11% and Operating Income Improves by 28%"
NEW YORK, April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Riddell Sports Inc. (Amex: RDL - news) today announced a pre-tax and net loss of $6,357,000, or $0.69 per share, for the first quarter of 1999. This represents an 11% improvement over the $7,109,000 pre-tax loss in the first quarter of 1998. However, in the first quarter of 1998 the Company had a $3,700,000 tax benefit which reduced the pre-tax loss to a net loss of $3,409,000, or $0.37 per share. The tax benefit in the first quarter of 1998 was offset later that year.
Operating income improved by 28% from a loss of $3,749,000 in the first quarter of 1998 to a loss of $2,709,000 in the first quarter of 1999, with the Company's Institutional and Retail segments contributing to the overall improvement. The Company noted that in recent years the first quarter has shown increasingly larger operating income losses compared to the previous year, primarily because of marketing spending leading revenues in certain key business segments. However, this trend was reversed in the current quarter, as a result of increased sales, improved gross margin rates and the profit enhancement programs implemented in late 1998.
Revenues in the first quarter grew by $3,280,000, or 11%, from $30,979,000 last year to $34,259,000, with revenues growing in every part of the business except licensing. The Company's sales of Umbro-branded team soccer products provided a portion of the overall increase in Institutional revenues. The Company's Institutional and Retail revenues grew by 12% and 9%, respectively.
At the same time, Selling, General & Administrative expenses declined as a percentage of sales from 50.7% in the first quarter of 1997 to 48.1% for the same period this year.
Commenting on the results, David Mauer, Riddell's President & CEO said, ''This was a solid quarter for the Company. Top line growth combined with the benefits from the cost saving programs and other actions that we took at the end of last year, have positioned the Company for improved results in 1999. The new initiatives which lost money in 1998 are also doing much better this year and so far this year, are in line with our expectations..."
SOURCE: © 1999 Thursday April 29, 6:30 am Eastern Time Company Press Release Riddell Sports, Inc. biz.yahoo.com |
