Alibris Inc., an online seller of used and rare books, is seeking $25 million through an initial public offering of common stock, the company says in a statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The operator of Alibris.com, which sells directly to consumers as well as to some 5,000 book sellers, says it plans to use the proceeds of the IPO to "grow our product supply, expand marketing and sales, invest in technology and operations infrastructure, and for working capital and general operating purposes."
Alibris posted a net loss of $900,000 on $13.8 million in revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, compared to a net loss of $1.5 million on revenue of $10.4 million in the year-earlier period, the company says in the filing. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2003, it posted a net loss of $6 million on $45.5 million in revenue, compared to a net loss of $7.2 million on $31 million in revenue in 2002. Alibris says total operating expenses declined 9.8% to $13.4 million last year from $14.9 million in 2002, including a 6.5% drop in expenses related to marketing and sales. As a percentage of revenue, overall expenses declined to 29.5% from 47.7%.
Alibris does more than half of its total revenue in retail sales, though retail’s share of its total business declined in 2003 over 2002. It reported $27.1 million in retail revenue last year, up 33% from $20.4 million in 2002, but retail revenue declined as a percent of total revenue to 60% from 66%.
Business revenue, from sales to other booksellers, increased 70.4% last year, to $18.4 million from $10.8 million in 2002, as business revenue rose as a percentage of overall revenue to 40% from 35%.
It says the growth of $6.7 million in retail revenue was attributable to a 39.4% increase in the number of units sold, which was offset by a 4.8% decrease in retail average unit sales price. "We believe the increase in retail revenue was primarily due to an increased focus on marketing initiatives and web site improvements that enhanced customer acquisition and retention," Alibris says in the filing. It adds that, in 2003, "$1.2 million of retail revenue was attributable to a project with one of our library customers. We do not expect to generate a similar amount of revenue from a single library project in 2004."
The growth of $7.6 million in business revenue was attributable to a 74.1% increase in the number of units sold. "Approximately 75% of this increase came from our largest business customers who shifted in 2003 from a model under which our booksellers fulfilled orders through our distribution center to a model under which our booksellers located in the United States and Canada ship directly to end customers located in those countries," Alibris says.
"In 2003, revenue from our relationships with Amazon.com and its related entities, Barnes&Noble.com, Books-A-Million, Borders Group Inc., eBay and Half.com by eBay, Indigo/Chapters and Ingram Book Group, accounted for approximately 40% of our total revenue," Alibris says. "Barnes&Noble.com and Amazon.com and its related entities accounted for approximately 18% and approximately 14% of total revenue, respectively."
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