National Media Corp., the infomercial marketing company in Encino, CA, posted a loss of $9 million on net revenues of $86.7 million for the three-month period ended Sept. 30. The loss was less than the loss it reported during the same quarter last year, when it posted $14.4 million loss on net revenues of $54.6 million.
Although its net revenues rose 58.8 percent on the strength of North American sales over the same period last year, the company faced continuing sales troubles in Asia and other foreign markets. The company wrote down $3.2 million in inventory and prepaid production costs for those areas. Its international revenues dropped 20.9 percent to $30.8 million during the quarter.
National Media is under new management, whose first priority is to restructure the company at an estimated cost of $10 million to $20 million by the end of the year. The restructuring costs include moving its former headquarters to Encino, CA, and closing its Philadelphia office, consolidating its New Zealand and Far East business offices, closing unprofitable retail stores in Australia and New Zealand, among other cost-cutting measures.
The company has aired several strong-performing infomercials this year, including “T-Fal Ingenio Fat-Free Stackable Cookware,” “Larry North’s Slimdown 98,” the “Red Devil Portable Outdoor Kitchen,” “Iron Quick Ironing System” and “Susan Powter’s Give Me Five.”
