Traditional Industries Profit Plunges 80%

Traditional Industries in Agoura Hills said its fiscal second-quarter profit tumbled 80% from a year earlier on a 10% decline in revenue.

In the quarter ended Dec. 31, Traditional, which sells packages of photographic products and services directly to consumers, said its net income fell to $309,000 from $1.56 million a year earlier. Its revenue dropped to $13.5 million from $15 million.

For the first half of its fiscal year, Traditional’s profit plummeted 72% from a year earlier, to $1.27 million from $4.56 million, but its six-month revenue climbed 18% to $33.5 million from $28.4 million.

Traditional attributed the lower earnings to higher debt-interest and administrative costs, and to higher than expected legal and accounting costs related to its recent settlement of a dispute with the Federal Trade Commission, which had objected to some of Traditional’s sales practices.