Intervisual Books Exploring Options

Jim Milliot |

Nov 27, 2000

News
Intervisual Books Exploring Options Jim Milliot -- 11/27/00 Faced with another year of losses, Intervisual Books Inc. has retained the investment banking firm Gerard Klauer Mattison & Co. to help the publisher explore a variety of strategic options including the possible sale of the company. Intervisual chairman Waldo Hunt said that while he would prefer to find new investors, he could not rule out the possibility of a sale. Intervisual had another disappointing quarter for the third period ended September 30, 2000, during which revenues fell 7.5%, to $6.1 million, and the company had a net loss of $319,656, compared to net income of $75,936 in last year's third quarter. Although sales for the first nine months of the year were up 19.8%, to $14.5 million, Intervisual's net loss increased to $1.3 million from $746,041. Dan Reavis, executive v-p and chief financial officer, said he expects the trends that impacted the third quarter to continue for the remainder of the year, resulting in a loss for both the fourth quarter and the entire year. During the quarter, sales in Intervisual's self-publishing program rose by 165%, but that increase was more than offset by a decline in its packaging business. The loss of a major U.K. customer and the shift in business with a U.S. publisher from the third quarter to the fourth hurt the packaging operation. Intervisual found a new U.K. account but will not begin recording sales until 2001. The strength of the dollar curtailed Intervisual's international sales. According to Intervisual's quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, because of its losses and negative cash flow, the company has instituted additional executive salary cuts and will eliminate an undetermined number of positions.

News

Intervisual Books Exploring Options
Jim Milliot -- 11/27/00

Faced with another year of losses, Intervisual Books Inc. has retained the investment banking firm Gerard Klauer Mattison & Co. to help the publisher explore a variety of strategic options including the possible sale of the company. Intervisual chairman Waldo Hunt said that while he would prefer to find new investors, he could not rule out the possibility of a sale.

Intervisual had another disappointing quarter for the third period ended September 30, 2000, during which revenues fell 7.5%, to $6.1 million, and the company had a net loss of $319,656, compared to net income of $75,936 in last year's third quarter. Although sales for the first nine months of the year were up 19.8%, to $14.5 million, Intervisual's net loss increased to $1.3 million from $746,041. Dan Reavis, executive v-p and chief financial officer, said he expects the trends that impacted the third quarter to continue for the remainder of the year, resulting in a loss for both the fourth quarter and the entire year.

During the quarter, sales in Intervisual's self-publishing program rose by 165%, but that increase was more than offset by a decline in its packaging business. The loss of a major U.K. customer and the shift in business with a U.S. publisher from the third quarter to the fourth hurt the packaging operation. Intervisual found a new U.K. account but will not begin recording sales until 2001. The strength of the dollar curtailed Intervisual's international sales.

According to Intervisual's quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, because of its losses and negative cash flow, the company has instituted additional executive salary cuts and will eliminate an undetermined number of positions.

A version of this article appeared in the 11/27/2000 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: