Flexsteel sales, earnings drop
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, May 5, 2008
Dubuque, Iowa — Upholstery manufacturer Flexsteel Inds. closed its fiscal third quarter with a slight gain in residential furniture sales, but reported that overall sales — which includes recreational vehicle and commercial furniture — were down 5.7%.
Residential furniture sales for the quarter ended March 31 were $60.9 million — up 2.5% from the same period last year. For the nine months, residential furniture sales were up 1.6% from a year earlier to $191.1 million.
Total sales, however, declined 5.7% in the third quarter to $98.1 million because of weakness in the company's recreational vehicle and commercial seating businesses.
Net income for the current quarter was $849,531 or 13 cents per share, down 44.2% from $1.5 million or 23 cents per share a year ago. The 2007 quarter included an after-tax gain of $300,000 or 4 cents per share from the sale of land.
Flexsteel management said that because of the uncertain U.S. economy, troubled by higher prices for food and fuel and declining consumer confidence, the company expects to post lower shipments in its fourth fiscal quarter.
"We expect that this reduced demand for residential and recreational vehicle products will continue through the balance of calendar year 2008," the company said. Officials said they will continue to explore allocation of capital resources and cost controls, and believe they have inventories and marketing strategies in place to take advantage of opportunities to gain market share.
