 Ms Stewart is no longer attracting the right sort of publicity |
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, the corporate front for the controversial US lifestyle guru, has plunged into the red. The company has been saddled with a large restructuring charge, as well as a prolonged probe into share transactions by Ms Stewart.
Omnimedia, which publishes Martha Stewart Living magazine and sells a line of products at bankrupt retailer Kmart, lost $2m (�1.3m) during the last three months of 2002, compared with a profit of $5.7m a year earlier.
The company said it expected to remain in the red during the next three-month period.
'Challenges'
Omnimedia president Sharon Patrick said probes into Ms Stewart - which concern alleged insider trading in the shares of biotech firm ImClone - were weighing on the business.
"Until this situation is resolved, we will likely continue to face challenges throughout our businesses," she said.
One effect of the ImClone affair has been to make Martha Stewart a less desirable media property in the US.
Omnimedia was forced to cancel Ms Stewart's annual Christmas special, for example.
The firm has also scaled back on its once-booming internet and catalogue businesses, as consumers proved no longer so willing to follow Ms Stewart's lifestyle advice.
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