Nautilus, Inc. continued to see weakness in the fourth quarter, bringing an end to a dismal 2008 that saw net revenues drop in all three major business segments. 


The company’s Direct segment, which consist almost entirely of the Bowflex brand home gym, saw revenues plunge 41.7% to $36.1 million in the fourth quarter from $61.9 million in the year-ago period. 


Management for the company stressed that the Direct segment was the most volatile business segment, and attributed declines to the consumer environment and credit market disruptions, along with the company’s decision to reduce the level of discounting for the year.
For the Retail segment, which consists primarily of cardio equipment sales, revenues fell 31.1% to $28.5 million from $41.1 million in the year-ago period  The decline was attributed to the weakness of smaller regional partners, which management said underperformed due to market conditions.


Commercial business sales fell 36.9% to $26.4 million for the quarter from $41.9 million in the year-ago period. Management said the decline was primarily due to the late investment by health clubs to modernize existing equipment, reduced sales of TreadClimber units and tighter inventory controls by some dealers.  The company recently decided to reduce TreadClimber sales in order to improve design and will be reintroducing the newest version of the product at an unspecified future time.


NLS reported a net loss from continuing operations of $41.2 million, or a loss of $1.35 per diluted share, in the quarter, compared to a net loss from continuing operations of $32.0 million, or $1.01 per diluted share in the year-ago period.  The 2008 quarter included $41 million in charges and the 2007 quarter contained $43.1 million in charges.