VANCOUVER, WA — After Nautilus Inc. notified its customers that it would cease taking new orders for commercial equipment on Oct. 30, Edward Bramson, chairman and CEO, said in a Nov. 10 earnings call that he has strong indications of interest from potential buyers of Nautilus' discontinued commercial gym equipment operation. Nautilus' commercial business includes its Nautilus, Schwinn and Stairmaster brands, as well as a manufacturing facility and three warehouses.
Bramson said he expects a sale of one or more pieces of the commercial equipment business in the near future.
Kenneth Fish, Nautilus CFO, also said in the call that the company is not looking to transfer all areas related to the business to a buyer. The company plans to keep some areas, such as its accounts receivable, so it could continue to collect upon accounts until it sells off all of the commercial business.
Nautilus reported a loss in revenue for its discontinued commercial business of $22.9 million, or $0.75 per diluted share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2009, compared to an $11.9 million loss from discontinued operations in the third quarter of 2008, or $0.39 per diluted share.
Net loss from continuing and discontinued operations in the third quarter 2009 was $24.4 million, or $0.80 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $34.1 million, or $1.11 per diluted share, in third quarter 2008.
Nautilus reported a loss from continuing operations of $1.5 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, for third quarter 2009, versus a loss of $22.2 million, or $0.72 per diluted share, in third quarter 2008.
Net sales from continuing operations also were down at $41.4 million in the third quarter, compared to net sales from continuing operations of $62.7 million for the same quarter in 2008. However, Nautilus officials said they offset expected lower sales in the retail and direct businesses with greater operating efficiencies, resulting in profitable operating income for both businesses in the third quarter.