Educational Development Corporation Announces Fiscal First Quarter 2021 Results

TULSA, Okla., July 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Educational Development Corporation (“EDC”, or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: EDUC) (http://www.edcpub.com) today reports net revenues and earnings per share results for the first quarter ended May 31, 2020.

Randall White, CEO of Educational Development Corporation, announced that for the first quarter ended May 31, 2020, the Company reports net revenues of $38,291,700, an increase of $10,704,300, or 38.8%, when compared to $27,587,400 for the first quarter of the previous year.  Net earnings totaled $1,931,100 for the quarter ended May 31, 2020, compared to $1,363,600 for the quarter ended May 31, 2019, an increase of 41.6%.  Earnings per share for the quarter were $0.23 compared to $0.17 for the same quarter the previous year, an increase of 35.3% on a fully diluted basis.

The net revenues of our direct sales division, Usborne Books and More (“UBAM”) totaled $36,926,200 during the quarter ended May 31, 2020, an increase of 46.3% from $25,248,100 for the quarter ended May 31, 2019.  Our average number of active consultants in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 was 33,100, an increase of 1,500, or 4.7%, from 31,600 average active consultants selling in the first quarter of fiscal 2020.

The Publishing divisions net revenues decreased 41.6% to $1,365,500 in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 from $2,339,300 for the same quarter a year ago.  This decrease in sales resulted from temporary store closures impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of our publishing customers temporarily closed in March, following the guidance from their local authorities to prevent the spread of the pandemic, and are reopening at varying times over the summer months.

Per Mr. White, “Due to the closures of many schools during the quarter, we experienced increased demand for educational materials in homes.  Our increase in active UBAM consultants and our ability to receive orders online and deliver directly to our customers’ homes resulted in our increased UBAM revenues during the quarter.  We are excited to see this increase in demand for our products continue through the summer and into the fall as parents continue to limit outside activities and look to homeschooling options for the fall semester.  We are also excited by the continued growth in active consultants.  We are seeing our recruiting numbers climb to new levels as families look for non-traditional income streams to supplement or replace their income levels maintained prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.”