Ethan Allen Posts $3.8 Million Quarterly Profit

October 27, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on October 28, 2010 Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (NYSE:ETH) reported net income of $3.8 million for the quartered ended Sept. 30, compared to a $13.6 million net loss during the same quarter last year.

Net sales for the quarter were $164.8 million, up 21 percent from the prior year quarter. The company's retail division delivered net sales of $121 million, an increase of 17.3 percent from the prior year quarter. Total written orders booked for the retail division decreased 2.4 percent while comparable design center orders were 3.5 percent higher than the prior year quarter.

"We are pleased with the growth of sales and profitability," said Farooq Kathwari, chairman, president and CEO. "The 'Great Recession' has provided an opportunity to make substantial improvements in most aspects of our vertically integrated enterprise. Written business for the quarter was impacted by the timing of the end of savings events, which ended Oct. 18 this year compared with a Sept. 30 conclusion last year."

The home furnishings retailer maintained strong liquidity and ended the quarter with cash and securities totaling $90.7 million. During the quarter, the company paid $7.7 million to repurchase a portion of its common stock and bonds. An additional $3.0 million of bonds were repurchased in early Oct. 2010.

"While we are faced with an uncertain economic environment, we are cautiously optimistic that due to our many initiatives, we have the opportunity to gain market share and continue to show improvements compared to the prior year in both sales and earnings," Kathwari said. "During the past quarter, we increased our advertising spending and introduced our new campaign, which while maintaining the aspirational value of our brand, also gets the message across about our excellent values, stylish products, quality, and interior design services."

The entire earnings release can be found online.