PC Connection Earns $2.2M in 3Q

This compares with $2 million in net income, or 8 cents per share, on $312.9 million in sales for the year-ago quarter.

Thomson Financial/First Call had projected earnings of 5 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30. The results include restructuring charges of $718,000.

"We are encouraged by the improvement in our overall performance," said Patricia Gallup, chairman and CEO of Merrimack-based PC Connection.

Sales for the retailer's government-focused GovConnection segment grew 50 percent sequentially to $96 million. Its large-account unit, MoreDirect, grew 31 percent sequentially to $70 million. SMB sales were flat compared with the second quarter, according to the company.

PC Connection reported that its average order size for the third quarter was $1,323, compared with $1,259 in the corresponding period a year ago and $1,127 in the second quarter.

Sales of enterprise server and networking products increased 27 percent from the year-ago quarter, the company said.

Notebooks represented 16 percent of sales, the largest product category by revenue, compared with 22.5 percent last year.

Desktop/server systems accounted for 14.8 percent of sales, compared with 12 percent of sales for the year-ago quarter. Computer system average selling prices increased 2 percent in the third quarter compared with the corresponding period a year ago and rose 2 percent compared with the second quarter of 2002, resulting primarily from a 23 percent sequential increase in server average selling prices, according to the company.