Fotoball USA Inc., a San Diego-based manufacturer of sports promotion items, reported year-end net income of $2.6 million, or 83 cents a share, on revenues of $28.6 million, compared with the prior year’s net of $597,874, or 22 cents a share, on revenues of $19 million for 1998.
Michael Favish, Fotoball’s president, said the company continues to build quarterly sales increases by focusing more on its retail sales on its sports-related products, while pursuing new sales in entertainment-themed products.
During the past year, retail sales of its goods grew from 75 percent of total sales to 87 percent. The profit margins on retail sales are greater than on its promotional sales, the company said.
Helping boost the company’s performance last year was the use of a tax benefit it obtained for having lost money in 1997, the company said.
Despite the improved profits and sales, and meeting earnings estimates, the company’s Nasdaq stock slid from a high of $8 last November to $5 at Feb. 23.
Fotoball products, mostly souvenir sports and specialty balls, are sold in major retail chains including Target, Toys R Us, Sears, Wal-Mart, and J.C. Penney. The company, which has some 100 employees in San Diego, also sells custom sports and non-sports related products for corporate promotions.
