Drop in Trade Sales Means Loss at Millbrook
by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 1/6/2003
Total revenue at Millbrook Press dropped 38.5%, to $3.3 million, for the first quarter ended October 31, 2002, and the publisher reported a net loss of $476,000 compared to net income of $149,000 in the first quarter of fiscal 2002. The company said the revenue decline was due to a "significant" decrease in trade sales that resulted from its decision to stop distributing the Snappy book line. Sales to the school and library market rose 13% in the quarter.
Millbrook president and CEO Dave Allen said the results in the quarter "reflect the transitional effect between the exit of the Snappy product line and the building of the Roaring Brook Press imprint." Roaring Brook had sales of $500,000 in the period. In its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Millbrook noted that as part of its effort to reduce overhead costs, it cut general and administrative expenses by $23,000, to $355,000, in the quarter.
