Second quarter sales for the period ended September 30 rose 12.3%, to $21 million, at Franklin Electronic Publishers. The revenue increase was led by higher sales of reference products plus a gain of $1.5 million from the extension of a licensing agreement. The company also had $663,000 in sales from the eBookman compared to negative sales (due to returns) of $1.2 million in last year's second quarter. Sales in the electronic Rolodex line fell 53%.
Higher sales plus the absence of one-time charges resulted in net income of $2.6 million in the quarter compared to a loss of $5.9 million in last year's second quarter, a figure that included writedowns of $4.2 million related to Franklin's eBookman operations. For the first six months of the year, Franklin had net income of $2.6 million on sales of $37.6 million.
Company president Barry Lipsky said he was pleased with the company's profit performance in the first half of the year, noting that sell-through in the second quarter was up over last year at several key accounts. He warned, however, that he was "less enthusiastic" about sell-through in the third quarter due to reports of slow sales by retailers. Nevertheless, Lipsky said he was "confident that we will be profitable for the current year." The company lost $26 million in fiscal 2002.
