Day Runner Reports $2.7-Million Quarterly Loss

Feeling the biggest impact yet from changes in the way retailers order products, Day Runner Inc. on Tuesday posted a quarterly loss of $2.7 million and said losses for the current three-month period will be “substantial.”

The Irvine maker of paper organizers, planners and software said it has eliminated 30 jobs, including 14 management positions, since late last month as it continues to adjust to more inventory tightening by its major U.S. customers.

“Our goal is to complete the bulk of our restructuring this fiscal year and to enter fiscal 2001 as a leaner and profitable organization,” James E. Freeman Jr., Day Runner’s chief executive, said in a news release. “We believe this goal is achievable.”

Meanwhile, he said, the seasonal nature of the company’s business, constraints on sales and expenses of reducing staff level will likely result in “a substantial loss in the March quarter.”

Freeman said the company expects to incur other one-time costs at some point during its fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Day Runner’s loss amounts to 23 cents a share for the quarter, which ended Dec. 31. In the year-earlier quarter, it earned $2 million, or 16 cents a share. Quarterly revenue fell to $57.5 million from $64.6 million a year earlier.

The company has seen its sales falter and product returns increase as major retailers reduce their inventories.

The company’s stock price has been steadily declining since its 12-month high of $14.06 a share last January. The price fell 6 cents a share Tuesday to close at $1.78 in Nasdaq trading.