Relationship marketer Damark International, Minneapolis, expects to report operating losses in the third and fourth quarters because of substantial investments in its growing membership services business.
Analyst estimates are for a loss per share of 13 cents for the third quarter ending Sept. 26 and earnings per share of 33 cents in the fourth quarter. Those figures compare with EPS of 9 cents and 35 cents respectively for the same quarters in 1997.
Damark chairman/CEO Mark Cohn projects the company's membership program, which had 1.4 million members as of June, to approach 2 million by year's end.
