USA: Wedded Bliss For JLM Couture’s Third Quarter

JLM Couture Inc (NASDAQ:JHPC), the designer, manufacturer and marketer of wedding apparel, has posted third fiscal quarter revenues of $6m, an 11 per cent gain on revenue of $5.4m for the like quarter last year. Net income for JLM's 2000 third fiscal quarter was $303,348, or $0.15 per basic and diluted share, as compared to $286,384 or $0.14 a basic and diluted share, reported for the like quarter in fiscal 1999. For the first nine months of fiscal 2000, revenues were $15,593,508, a nine per cent increase on revenues of $14,341,425 for the like period a year ago. Net income for the first nine months of fiscal 2000 was $832,525, or $0.41 a basic and diluted share, as compared to $791,125 or $0.39 a basic share and $0.38 a diluted share, for the like period in fiscal 1999. Joseph L. Murphy, president and CEO, said JLM's revenue growth resulted from increased demand for the company's contemporary classic wedding gown and bridesmaid lines, in particular Jim Hjelm Occasions and the Lazaro bridesmaides dresses. Earnings growth in the quarter was impacted by the company's continued investment in expanding its European operations, as well as costs related to introducing its new Lazaro line of bridesmaids. JLM Couture Inc, founded in 1987 and based in New York City, is the nation's only publicly traded manufacturer of wedding apparel. The company's lines include Occasions bridesmaids gowns; Lazaro contemporary bridal collection; Visions, a moderately priced bridal line featuring the finest in contemporary bridal design; Jim Hjelm Couture, contemporary bridal designs; and Alvina Valenta, upscale contemporary-classic styling.