Educational Development Corp., which had double-digit gains in sales and earnings for the fiscal year ended February 29, said it expects sales to increase 10% to 14% and earnings to be up by more than 25% in the first quarter ended May 31.
The company has had the strongest growth in its home business division, where sales were up 23%, to $22.9 million, in fiscal 2004. In its year-end filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, EDC reported that sales through home shows generated 54% of the home business division's total revenue last year, an increase of 17%. Sales through book fairs jumped 64% last year and generated 21% of division revenue, and EDC expects to see steady growth through the fair channel. Sales to schools and libraries accounted for 8% of revenue in fiscal '04 and were flat with the previous year. Sales via the Internet grew the fastest last year, albeit from a small base, and generated 3% of division revenue.
Sales in the publishing division, which were $7.5 million last year, are expected to be in the $7.5 million to $8 million range in fiscal 2005. The flat results last year were primarily due to the bankruptcy of FAO Inc., which dropped sales from national chains to 32% of the division's sales from 35% in fiscal 2003.
