ShopNBC 4Q Sales Rise, Loss Narrows

-- Home Textiles Today, 3/22/2010 12:00:00 AM

Minneapolis —

Higher sales and a richer margin helped pare net loss for the fourth quarter to 27 cents per share from a loss of $1.30 per share in the previous 4Q.

Sales for the quarter ended Jan. 30 rose 7.4% to $155.3 million, with the number of with new and active customers up 38% and 32%, respectively. To address consumer price sensitivities, net average selling price was lowered to $96 from $139 in the year-ago period. However, gross profit margin rose 70 basis points to 32.9%.

“We surpassed the 1 million customer mark,” said Keith Stewart, ceo. “Leading indicators across all fronts continued to trend in the right direction with our Internet business achieving industry-leading e-commerce sales penetration of 39%. As our merchandising strategies continue to take form and be well-received by the customer, we remain excited about the broadening appeal of our business.”

The consumer-direct retailer continues to focus on home, electronics, beauty, fashion, jewelry and watches.

For the full fiscal year, net loss per share was 45 cents compared to a net loss of $2.92 in the previous year. Gross profit margin was 32.9%, up 70 basis points.Sales fell 7% to $528 million for the year, although e-commerce sales penetration rose 170 basis points to 33.7%.