The back-to-school season should be substantially busier than usual for online textbook seller Varsity Group. The number of educational institutions buying new textbooks exclusively through Varsity has risen to 210, compared with 130 in August 2002.
Sales are already up for the year, according to the company's latest financial release. Varsity posted sales of $517,000 in the second quarter ended June 30, up from $337,000 for the comparable period the prior year. For the half, it increased its sales to $1.7 million, from $1.1 million during the first six months of 2002.
The company, which made a profit in 2002 for the first time since it began operating in 1998, lost money for the second quarter and first half of 2003, but less than during the comparable period the prior year. Second-quarter net loss fell to $88,000, from $292,000 the prior year. The company lost $530,000 during the first six months of this year, down from $757,000 in the first half of 2002.
