Carle Place, N.Y. – Net loss at 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. grew to $10.81 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2015 from $1.74 million in the same quarter the prior year. Higher operating expenses in areas including marketing and sales and technology and development helped boost net loss.
Revenues fared better, growing 29% to $232.2 million from $179.6 million 1-800-Flowers said the increase in revenues primarily reflected contributions from Harry & David which the company acquired in September 2014. Total revenues also grew, excluding Harry & David, reflecting solid growth in the company’s gourmet food and gift baskets and BloomNet segments, somewhat offset by modestly lower revenues in the consumer floral segment due to the Saturday placement of the Valentine holiday.
“During the fiscal third quarter, we saw solid performance across all of our business segments while facing a number of headwinds, most notably the significant seasonality of the Harry & David business, the Saturday placement of the Valentine holiday and the lingering impacts of the Thanksgiving Day fire on our Fannie May Fine Chocolates business,” said Jim McCann, CEO. “Regarding Harry & David, during the third quarter, while the business generated an anticipated loss, we were pleased to see year-over-year improvements in both top and bottom-line results.”