Posted Monday, May 12, 2008, 7:30 p.m., EST

PetMed Express Inc. of Pompano Beach, Fla., reported its net income increased 39 percent and revenues increased 16 percent for its fiscal year ended March 31.

“We are pleased to report high profitability for the year, which can be attributed to our strong reorder growth and our success in leveraging operating expenses,” said Mendo Akdag, PetMed’s chief executive officer and president. “Our focus in fiscal 2009 will be on capturing additional market share and improving reorders and our customer service levels.”

Both reorder sales and Internet sales, which are less expensive for the company, outpaced its overall growth for the year.

For 2008, the company saw reorder sales increase 22 percent to $134.3 million, about 71 percent of its $188.3 million in overall sales. Internet sales grew 21 percent to $122.5 million (about 65 percent of overall sales).

During the year, PetMed acquired 710,000 new customers, up from 681,000 in fiscal 2007.

“We have agreed to extend our current lease for our corporate headquarters until 2012 and have added another 15,000 square feet, primarily for the extension of our warehouse and pharmacy operations, in order to support our future growth,” Akdag said.

For the year, PetMed reported net income of $20.0 million on sales of $188.3 million, compared to net income of $14.4 million on sales of $162.2 million.

For its fourth quarter, the company posted net income of $4.9 million on sales of $40.4 million, compared to net income of $3.6 million on sales of $36.4 million for the year-ago period. <HOME>