Co-op direct marketer ADVO Inc. reported last week that results for its second fiscal quarter ending March 28 showed earnings per share more than doubled to 24 cents vs. 11 cents per share for second quarter 1997.
The company reported that operating income for the second fiscal quarter of 1998 was up to $12.5 million, from $8 million during the same period last year. ADVO also reported its second-quarter 1998 revenue of $253.2 million, up 4.4 percent from $242.5 million during second fiscal quarter 1997.
ADVO reported a fiscal year-to-date operating income of $29.6 million, up from $22 million for the previous six months.
ADVO, Windsor, CT, attributed the results to fewer co-op packages mailed, more pieces per package and more revenue per piece. According to ADVO, packages mailed for fiscal second quarter 1998 were 772.8 million, down 1.2 percent; the average number of pieces per package during fiscal second quarter 1998 was 8.55, an increase of 2.7 percent; and revenue per piece was $36.07, up 1.6 percent.
The decrease in the number of pieces mailed was primarily due to the $1 billion company ending a “second-date” co-op program in Detroit, ADVO reported. ADVO attributed the growth in revenue per piece primarily to an increase in average piece weights from its preprint customers.
ADVO chairman and CEO Robert “Kam” Kamerschen said the numbers “reflect the second consecutive quarter of a revenue-per-piece increase” and that he expected that “revenue per piece will continue to be positive” for the remainder of fiscal 1998.
ADVO's Mailbox Values co-op goes to about 60 million households every week.
