1-800-Flowers.com 4Q revenues fall 2.5%

1-800-Flowers.com swung to a loss and sales dipped during its fourth quarter, due to the timing of Easter and the cost of discontinuing an online wine retail business, the florist and gift retailer said Thursday.

Revenues for the quarter ended June 30 fell 2.5 percent from the period a year earlier to $173 million. The timing of the Easter holiday -- which took place in the third quarter in 2013 and in the fourth quarter in 2012 -- skewed comparisons, company executives said.

Adjusting for the holiday shift, revenues for the fourth quarter increased about 1.4 percent, the Carle Place-based company said.

Costs from restructuring a Fannie May brand factory and distribution center and losses from selling its Winetasting .com business also weighed down profits.

The company posted a loss of $1.7 million, or 3 cents per share, in its fourth quarter, compared with a profit of $1.8 million, or 3 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding losses related to discontinuing Wine tasting.com, the company reported $538,000 in income from continuing operations, compared with $1.7 million.

1-800-Flowers.com has done a good job of driving sales of discretionary products, said Eric Beder, managing director of Brean Capital LLC in Manhattan: "They want to sell you something unique and different, not the same dozen roses everyone else has."

Revenues for the year increased 4 percent to $735.5 million, compared to $707.5 in fiscal 2012. Net income dropped to $12.3 million or 19 cents per share from the prior year's $17.6 million or 27 cents per share.

Chief executive Jim McCann called the annual performance "solid," noting that the company finished 2013 debt-free. "We achieved these results," McCann said, "despite an uneven consumer economy."