The Company reported revenues of $111.8 million and earnings per diluted share from operations of $0.02. In addition, non-recurring charges of $0.02 were recorded in the first quarter of 2001, resulting in breakeven net earnings. This compares to earnings per diluted share of $0.07 on revenues of $118.4 million in the first quarter of 2000.
The Board of Directors has appointed its Chairman, Theodore G. Schwartz, to the role of CEO following the resignation of Peter M. Leger. Mr. Leger is leaving to pursue other opportunities. I want to thank Peter for his vision, efforts and service to APAC and wish him well in the future, said Mr. Schwartz. I am extremely excited to return to lead the operational execution of our strategic plan. I am passionate about our vision and our commitment to provide premier CRM solutions to our clients.
Revenues from Customer Care segment were $76.7 million, an increase of $1.9 million, or 2%, from revenues in the first quarter of 2000.
Revenues from the Customer Acquisition segment were $35.1 million in the first quarter of 2001, a reduction of $8.5 million, or 19% down from revenues in the first quarter of 2000.
The Company’s gross profit was $17.8 million in the first quarter of 2001. Selling, general and administrative expenses declined $2.7 million, or 15 percent, and included $1.5 million of non-recurring charges in the first quarter of 2001. The primary components of these non-recurring charges were costs associated with a litigation settlement and additional provisions for bad debts.
The economic slowdown experienced during the first quarter affected specific clients with respect to lower volumes and revenues. In addition, the Company experienced longer than anticipated selling cycles due to a combination of market conditions and the complexity of integrating sophisticated CRM solutions.
Despite the slowdown in the economy, we are encouraged by winning new business in the first quarter of 2001, said Mr. Schwartz. Several of our new contracts include multi-year programs with clients that have the potential to extend our services into new vertical segments. Clients such as a predominant provider of broadband services and a major mortgage lender are among the world-class companies we have partnered with to provide customer solutions. Furthermore, our pipeline for calendar 2001 has increased over last year as a result of our aligned solution sales approach. We will focus on the growth of our pipeline as we continue to leverage the APAC Customer Services brand name to obtain new business, continued Mr. Schwartz.
We have targeted efforts focused on continuous process improvement of our operations and overall profitability. We will focus on aligning our business capacity with our existing valued clients and our sales pipeline. We also intend to streamline our cost structure to increase productivity and drive for improved gross margin in the second half of the year. I am extremely excited to return to oversee the execution of the business I founded and built to become a market leader, stated Mr. Schwartz.
