Right Start Profit Drops 23% in 2nd Quarter

The Right Start Inc., a Westlake Village marketer of children’s items by catalogue, said its fiscal second-quarter profit fell 23% from a year earlier despite a 55% jump in revenue.

In the quarter ended Nov. 25, Right Start’s net income fell to $204,000 from $266,000 a year earlier, even though its revenue climbed to $10.1 million from $6.55 million.

Right Start blamed the lower earnings on price-cutting “to combat recessionary and competitive pressures,” higher shipping costs and a $107,000 pretax loss related to the mailing of a test discount-toy catalogue.

For the first half of its fiscal year, Right Start’s profit fell 28%, to $494,000 from $685,000 a year earlier, but its revenue rose 32%, to $19.8 million from $15 million.