GSI Commerce, Inc. had a strong first quarter with revenue increases in the mid-twenties, but it was unable to translate this growth to the bottom line. At the tail-end of the quarter, the company launched its newest partner site, shopNFL.com. The new site had no effect on the quarters results, but the company happily noted that the launch was both on time and on budget.
Net revenues were $114.2 million for the quarter, up 24.9% from $91.4 million last year, with net revenues from merchandise sales up 20% to $91.7 million. Revenues from sporting goods sales grew 40% in the quarter to $55.8 million and accounted for 35% of all sales.
Gross margin was 41.3% of net sales in the quarter, an increase of 430 basis points from 37.0% in the same period in 2005. Management attributed the margin increase to an improvement in owned inventory margins and “strong” service fee growth.
However, the company saw its net loss grow to $4.4 million, or 10 cents per share from a net loss of $1.6 million, or 4 cents per share, for 2005's fiscal first quarter.
Included in the net loss for Q1 2006 is a non-cash charge of approximately $1.6 million, or 4 cents per share, to reduce the carrying value of the shares owned by the company in Odimo Inc.
