Right Start Profit Falls 31% From Year Ago

Right Start Inc., a Westlake Village mail-order catalogue merchant of children’s items, said its fiscal first-quarter profit fell 31% from a year earlier despite a 14% increase in revenue.

In the quarter ended Aug. 26, Right Start’s net income fell to $290,000 from $419,000 a year earlier, while its revenue climbed to $9.64 million from $8.46 million.

Right Start said the lower earnings reflected higher costs related to filling orders for out-of-stock merchandise. The company’s merchandise and delivery costs in the quarter jumped 30% from a year earlier, to $6.3 million.

Separately, Right Start said it completed the previously announced purchase of Children’s Wear Digest, a mail-order catalogue for children’s apparel, for about $2.6 million and an additional sum if the new subsidiary attains certain performance goals.

Children’s Wear Digest, based in Richmond, Va., had 1991 revenue of $3.7 million.