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dELiA*s mulls Net IPO
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December 9, 1998: 9:52 a.m. ET
Youth marketer may take Internet business public; 3Q results slump
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - dELiA*s said Wednesday it is mulling a possible public offering of its Internet business or "other initiatives designed to enhance shareholder value."
"We are very excited about the expansion of our Internet business," said Stephan Kahn, chairman and chief executive officer. "We're also excited about the prospect of bringing new capital and talented management as we look to carve out this business."
The catalog retailer also posted results for the fiscal third quarter, ended Oct. 31. Net sales increased 30.2 percent to $40.8 million from $31.4 million a year earlier. Income for the quarter totaled $747,000, or 5 cents per diluted share, down from $1.6 million, or 12 cents per diluted share, a year ago.
Kahn said expenses were higher than a year ago due to greater spending on catalog circulation and costs associated with building the company's Internet and retail infrastructure.
"As we expected," Kahn said, "sales at our core catalog division continued to moderate during the third quarter. However, we are pleased to note that dELiA*s catalog business has strengthened in recent weeks, driven by the solid performance of our Holiday Book. This has been offset by some softness in the young men's side of our Screeem! and Jean Country retail stores, which we believe is partially related to unusually warm weather conditions in much of the Northeast."
Described as a marketer to "Generation Y," which covers consumers aged 10 to 24, dELiA*s plans to open its first store in February at the Westchester mall in White Plains, N.Y.
dELiA's shares (DLIA) closed Tuesday up 3/16 at 11-1/4. 
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