Commercial Lighting revenue increased 60% over first quarter 2007. Total revenues for the three months ended 31 March 2008 were approximately $3,019,000 as compared to approximately $2,407,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2007, an increase of approximately $612,000 or 25%. This increase was driven by the September 2007 acquisition of Advanced Lighting Systems ((ALS), which serves the commercial and entertainment lighting market, and by a 31% increase in revenue from Pool and Spa sales, offset by lower International sales compared to the same period in 2007. This is a 14% increase in revenue over the fourth quarter of 2007, and the fifth consecutive quarter of increased quarter over quarter revenue as the company begins to see the benefits of its acquisition and product development strategy.
Commercial lighting sales (sales in the architectural and entertainment markets) increased 60%, or $622,000 in the first quarter of 2008 as compared to the same period in 2007, driven by $873,000 in commercial and entertainment sales by ALS. Excluding revenue attributable to ALS, the company's commercial sales decreased 24%, or $251,000 in 2008, driven primarily by decreased fibre optic sales as commercial construction activity has slowed in many markets across the US.
"We are very pleased with the growth in our commercial lighting and pool and spa business in the first quarter," stated Mike Bauer, Nexxus Lighting's president and chief executive officer. "We believe that our ability to execute our strategy for growth in the solid-state LED lighting market through both strategic acquisitions and new product development is beginning to show in our results.
We are pleased with the first quarter results of ALS as a new Nexxus Lighting company, and our pool and spa business has benefited from sales of our new Savi note and the strength of our new management team for that division.
At Light Fair in Las Vegas later this month, we plan to introduce an exciting new brand to the lighting market that will capitalize on new patent pending technology that Zdenko Grajcar, our new chief technology officer, developed at Lumificient. We expect this new brand and the other new white light LED products we are introducing to be ground breaking in their performance. These new product introductions are designed to take Nexxus Lighting to the next level of growth. We are excited about the future of the Company as the construction industry continues to adopt LED lighting to replace conventional lighting systems."
(Jim Evans)
