Navarre back in black in fiscal 2010 Q2

PHYSICAL: Sales dropped 28% after BCI closure

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 10/29/2009

OCT. 29 | PHYSICAL: Navarre Corp. returned to profitability in its fiscal 2010 second quarter and credited its narrower business focus.

The distributor, which operates the anime DVD label Funimation, reported $2.3 million in net income for the three months ended Sept. 30. That compares to recording a net loss of $44.5 billion for the same period during the prior fiscal year.

Due to tighter operations, following the shut-down of TV-geared label BCI in its last fiscal year, Navarre’s sales fell 28% to $122.4 million.

Sales for Navarre’s publishing segment, encompassing its proprietary label business, fell 26% to $21.4 million. The company said BCI accounted for more than half of this decline.

Its distribution segment fell 30% to $111.3 million, and Navarre blamed an overall soft retail landscape plus the absence of major retailer Circuit City.

“The continued macroeconomic difficulties faced by consumers and the closure of Circuit City impacted sales versus the prior year’s second quarter,” Navarre CEO Cary Deacon said. “However, our strategy to refocus on more productive revenue sources is clearly paying off, as we are seeing strong levels of profitability and a $25.7 million debt reduction versus the same time last year.”