GSI Commerce Inc., which got its start providing e-commerce services for U.S. sporting goods retailers, has expanded beyond sports and now is ready to go global. The company, in reporting first-quarter results that included 28% revenue growth, also disclosed that Steve Davis, a veteran GSI executive, had been assigned to run GSI’s international operations based in Barcelona, Spain. The company says it is searching for someone to replace Davis as head of GSI Interactive, a 135-employee unit that provides 50 of GSI’s more than 60 clients with expertise in such areas as interactive design, user experience, e-mail marketing and search.
In announcing its international plans, the company cited market research that suggests 81% of global online consumer purchases by 2009 will come from outside the United States. “While the U.S. market has historically accounted for virtually all of the company’s revenues, this initiative is designed to grow the company’s international business to account for a meaningful portion of the company’s revenues in the future,” GSI said in its earnings release.
GSI reported net revenue of $146.3 million in the first quarter of the year, up 28% from $114.2 million in the first three months of 2006. The company reported a net loss of $2.3 million compared with a loss of $4.4 million a year ago.
Merchandise sales increased 69% from $191 million in the year-ago quarter to $322.5 million in the first quarter of 2007. The company continues to lessen its reliance on sporting goods, which accounted for 28.5% of merchandise sales in the 2007 quarter, compared with 35.3% a year ago. The company’s clients outside of sporting goods include Ace Hardware, RadioShack, Levi’s and Liz Claiborne.
The company, which recorded net revenue of $610 million in 2006, projects revenue of $710 million to $760 million for 2007. GSI projects net income of $38 million to $41 million this year, compared with $53.7 million in 2006. Chairman and CEO Michael G. Rubin previously has said GSI plans to spend $12 million this year on global expansion, technology and other infrastructure.
GSI last year acquired Aspherio, S.L., a Barcelona company that provides e-commerce services on an outsourced basis. The company also signed a deal last year to provide e-commerce services to Iomega International SA, the Swiss unit of U.S.-based data storage product supplier Iomega Corp.
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