Earful of Books, the audiobook retailer that completed a reverse merger earlier this year (News, Sept. 17), reported a net loss of $916,751 for the quarter ended September 30, 2001, compared to a loss of $605,679 in last year's third quarter. Merger expenses, costs associated with the opening of two stores and lower revenues were cited as the reasons for the higher loss. Total revenues fell 28%, to $268,455, due to the soft retail environment, according to Earful.
During the quarter, rental revenues declined 7.6% to $183,735, and merchandise sales were off 54%, to $26,818. The company received no franchise fees in the period, compared to $30,491 in last year's third quarter, due to its decision to focus on expansion by adding company-owned stores.
For the first nine months, revenues were down 10.4%, to $777,067, and the net loss was $2.3 million, up from $1.6 million.
