Buoyed by a 60% drop in its net loss and an 11% increase in sales in the first quarter, Intervisual Books Inc. executive v-p and chief financial officer Dan Reavis said he expects the company to be profitable for the second half of the year as well as for all of 2001. Sales in the period were $4.2 million and the net loss was $165,000.
Intervisual president Norm Sheinman said sales in its book packaging operation were up 25% in the quarter, while revenues in its self-publishing division, Piggy Toes Press, jumped 185% to $1.4 million. Piggy Toes titles are selling well in such mass merchandisers as Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Target and Kohl's. Sales to date of the division's Ten Little Ladybugs have topped 600,000 copies, while What Makes a Rainbow has sold more than 400,000 copies. The packaging group is looking forward to a strong second quarter when it ships the two Harry Potter titles it has developed for Scholastic. Sheinman said initial orders have met expectations and the company is optimistic that it will receive reorders when publicity begins for the November release of the first Potter movie.
