ToysRUs.com Q3 sales grow 15.3% from year ago while total sales stay flat

Third quarter sales at ToysRUs.com grew 15.3% to $68 million from Q3 2002’s $59 million, the company reported today. Sales growth for the first nine months was even stronger, up 21.2% to $178 million from $147 million a year ago.

Total sales at Toys R Us Inc. for the third quarter were up 2.2% to $2.32 billion. The company reports that excluding the impact of currency translation, sales were flat. For the nine months, sales were $6.3 billion, up 3%, up 0.5% excluding the currency translation. Comparable store sales decreased 3% for the third quarter.

Online sales accounted for 2.9% of total sales in the third quarter, up from 2.6% a year ago.

The web site’s operating loss for the third quarter 2003 was $6 million, down from $12 million for the third quarter 2002. For the nine months, the operating loss was $22 million versus an operating loss of $40 million for the comparable period in 2002.

The company reported a net loss of $38 million for the third quarter, compared with a net loss of $28 million for the third quarter 2002. For the nine months, the company reported a net loss of $56 million versus a net loss of $49 million for the comparable period in 2002.

Operating loss for the third quarter of 2003 was $30 million versus $16 million for the prior year. For the nine months, operating earnings were $3 million compared with $9 million in the prior year