Jakks Pacific Inc. reported results for the company’s first quarter ended March 31. Net sales increased 38 percent to $114.2 million, compared to $82.5 million reported in the comparable period last year. The reported net loss for the first quarter was $7.6 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $16.3 million, or $0.74 per diluted share, in the comparable period last year.
Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter improved to negative $.9 million, compared to negative EBITDA of $11.6 million in the first quarter of the previous year.
“Frozen and other Disney properties like Disney Princess, Cinderella, and Disney Fairies products continue to show encouraging performance at retail,” says Stephen Berman, president and CEO, Jakks Pacific Inc. “Other contributors to the quarter included Nintendo figures and plush, Star Wars large scale figures, licensed ball pits, foot-to-floor ride-ons, wagons, and children’s indoor and outdoor furniture.”
As of March 31, the company’s working capital was $234.2 million, including cash and equivalents and marketable securities of $105.3 million, compared to working capital of $120.4 million, including cash and equivalents and marketable securities of $113.6 million, as of March 31 last year. In response to customer demand and as a contingency measure to better deal with issues in the port of Los Angeles, on-hand inventory levels increased to $79.5 million at the end of the first quarter, compared to $42.2 million at the end of the first quarter last year.
