Intervisual Expects Profits in 2002

Larry Nusbaum, who took over as president of Intervisual Books at the beginning of the year, said he expects the company, which has lost money for the last several years, to post an operating profit in 2002 because of higher gross margins plus higher sales from its Piggy Toes Press self-publishing division.

For the first quarter ended March 31, revenues at Intervisual fell 17.4%, to $2.2 million, and the company had a net loss of $341,000 compared to a loss of $131,000 in the first quarter of 2001, before the inclusion of extraordinary items and discontinued operations. With the sale of its Fast Forward Marketing division earlier this year (News, Apr. 22), Intervisual has classified the video unit as a discontinued operation and restated results from 2001. In addition, the company recorded $1.1 million in extraordinary income in the quarter due to revised agreements with its printers.

According to the company's quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a $206,000 increase in sales at Piggy Toes was offset by a $638,000 decline in packaging sales. The drop in packaging sales was attributed to a delay in some shipments to the second quarter, and Nusbaum said he expects packaging revenues to be in line with projections by the end of the quarter. The increase in publishing sales was due mainly to higher sales at mass merchandisers of a number of titles including Ten Little Ladybugs and What Makes a Rainbow.