By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com -- Roots Corp (TSX:ROOT). posted an $8 million loss for the first quarter of this year, compared to a $5.3 million loss during the same period last year.
The company reported losses equating to 19 cents per diluted share for the quarter ending April 30th; this contrasts with last year's first-quarter losses of 13 cents per diluted share.
Quarterly sales reached $41.5 million—a reduction from the previous year's figure of $43.1 million.
This dip in sales was attributed primarily to direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales amounting to only $35.4 million—down from last year's DTC earnings of $37.4 million during the same time frame. Lower sales were attributed to reduced demand for their signature sweatpants.
In contrast, partner and other revenue streams saw growth over last year—rising from $5.7 million up to $6.1million—which include wholesale distribution of branded products by Roots, licensing agreements with select manufacturers and custom product offerings.
Meghan Roach, CEO of Roots, stated that these results were consistent with internal expectations and indicative of the current challenging economic landscape.
"While softness in demand for traditional fleece bottoms resulted in an overall year-over-year sales decline, our success in broadening our product range underscores the capacity of the brand to diversify and attract new customers".