Bluefly’s Q1 gross profit rises more than 100% as revenues rise 34%

Bluefly Inc.’s Bluefly.com, an online retailer of designer apparel sold at discount prices, posted a 34% increase in first-quarter net sales, to $11.1 million from $8.3 million in the year-ago period. Net loss narrowed 38% year-over-year to $1.1 million from $1.8 million.

Q1 gross profit rose 103% to $3.8 million from $1.9 million a year ago, increasing as a percentage of net sales to 34% from 22.5%.

"This quarter represents a very significant step forward for us," said CEO Ken Seiff. "Our gross profit for the quarter more than doubled as a result of our exceptionally strong revenue and gross margin growth, and we are extremely excited about the prospects for continued growth on both these fronts in the future."

Bluefly said the reduction in net loss was partly due to its recognition of $169,000 in income related to the partial collection of damages resulting from a litigation and $261,000 of non-cash other income related to investment securities. It said Q1 gross average order size rose more than 13% year-to-year to $189.56 from $167.20. The number of new customers acquired during the quarter increased 23% year-to-year to 33,335, while new-customer acquisition cost increased about 104% to $10.72 from $5.26.