Martin Lawrence Earnings Up 45% for 3rd Quarter

Martin Lawrence Limited Editions, a Van Nuys-based operator of art galleries, said its third-quarter earnings rose 45% from a year earlier, to $1.99 million from $1.33 million. Its revenue jumped 49%, to $12.4 million from $8.54 million.

The revenue gains reflected Martin Lawrence’s expansion efforts; the company opened three more stores in the latest quarter. Sales of stores that were open both this year and last year fell 11% in the latest period, the company said.

Martin Lawrence attributed the drop in “same-store” sales to its movement of experienced store managers to the new locations, because the managers often take their existing customer base with them.

For the first nine months of this year, Martin Lawrence’s profit rose 34%, to $5.55 million from $4.15 million, as revenue gained 39%, to $35.6 million from $25.6 million.