Williams-Sonoma Inc. reported yesterday net revenue for the third quarter ended Oct. 30 totaling $827.6 million, a 14.5 percent gain over the previous year. Same-store sales rose 4.4 percent in the period.
Also, direct-to-consumer net revenue increased 16.5 percent to $382.9 million, with all of the company's brands except Hold Everything delivering positive growth in the quarter. Internet revenue in the quarter climbed 42.2 percent to $197.5 million. The company estimates that 40 percent of its non-gift registry Internet revenue is incremental to the DTC channel and 60 percent is catalog-driven revenue.
Gross margin was 39.4 percent of net revenue for third-quarter 2005 compared with 38.9 percent during the same period last year. This 50 basis point increase was driven in part by reductions in customer shipping costs thanks to the opening of an East Coast distribution center in the third quarter of 2004 and the in-sourcing of the company's furniture line-haul management operations in the fourth quarter of 2004.
Net earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2005 increased 30.3 percent to $37.1 million. Diluted earnings per share rose 29.2 percent to 31 cents.
For the 39 weeks ended Oct. 30, the company's net revenue rose 13.2 percent to $2.325 billion. Same-store sales increased 4.3 percent.
Chantal Todé covers catalog and retail news and BTB marketing for DM News and DM News.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
