Disappointing greeting card sales led to a $9 million drop in revenue for New England Business Service, Inc. (NEBS) during its second quarter.
The Groton, MA-based direct marketer generated sales of $166.5 million, compared with $157.5 million during the same period in 2000. The quarter ended Dec. 29, 2001.
However, net income increased to $9.3 million, compared with $8.8 million for the prior year.
“Promotional spending by businesses continued to be soft in the quarter due to the weak economy, which adversely affected our greeting card sales during the holiday season,” said CEO Robert J. Murray in a statement. “Lower promotional spending also had a detrimental effect on our apparel segment, which recorded a sales decline of 2.5%.”
Murray added that “actions taken over the past year to reduce our cost structure mitigated the impact of the sales decline.”
The firm expects revenue to fall between 4% and 6% for the year.
The results include $216,000 in after-tax restructuring costs.
Figures released by NEBS showed that direct marketing sales fell to $84 million during the quarter, compared with $90 million during the same period in 2000. Direct sales rose by roughly $1 million to $26 million.
International sales declined to $10 million, compared with $11 million the year before. Sales of packaging and display products fell from $24.5 million to $22 million.
Apparel sales totaled $13.1 million, down from $13.4 million in 2000.
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