Direct marketing company ADVO Inc. has seen its revenues rise slightly, even though the California grocery strike has hampered advertising in that state.
Revenues grew to $302.4 million in the
fourth quarter compared to $291.2 million a year ago, the Windsor, Conn.-based company said Friday.
National advertising in the grocery category was up 2.1 percent from the fourth quarter 2002,
even with the strike. Yet revenue would have been better if it weren't for the grocers' response to the strike, cutting ad budgets, which ADVO estimated cut into fourth-quarter revenues by about $4.9
million. It isn't clear when the Southern California strike might be settled, giving rise to more concern in the current quarter.
Total advertising piece volume rose 10.1 percent to 7 billion
compared to a year ago. Pieces per package rose 6.1 percent in what ADVO said was due to broad-based increases in demand across regions and categories. Yet revenue per piece was down 5.1 percent, due
to strong demand in lighter-weight (and lower-cost) products and the grocery strike. Shared packages distributed rose 3.8 percent.
ADVO bills itself as the largest targeted in-home print
advertising company in the nation. It has annual revenues of $1.1 billion, and its mail reaches 67 million U.S. households weekly and 105 million monthly.
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