Hooker Sales, Income up for Fiscal '11

April 12, 2011  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on April 13, 2011

Hooker Furniture (NASDAQ: HOFT) on Tuesday reported net sales of $215.4 million and net income of $3.2 million for fiscal 2011.

Net income for fiscal 2011, ended Jan. 30, was up 7.7 percent compared with the prior year; and net sales rose 5.9 percent.

Net sales for the fiscal 2011 fourth quarter of $55 million were 4.3 percent higher than the prior-year period. Hooker lost $182,000 for the period.

"We're pleased to have grown sales across all divisions this year in a business environment that was still very challenging," said Paul B. Toms Jr., chairman, chief executive officer and president of Hooker Furniture, Martinsville, Va. "We finished the year with momentum, as the fiscal 2011 fourth quarter represented the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year sales increases. While we are disappointed we weren't able to leverage higher sales into higher profits, this year's accomplishments in many areas have positioned us to improve profitability going forward."

For the year's top line performance, the upholstery division led the way with a nearly 15 percent overall increase in net sales, including a 47 percent increase in imported leather upholstery unit volume compared with last year. Bradington-Young's domestically produced leather seating line also achieved growth with a 12 percent increase, marking the first year-over-year sales increase for domestic leather seating since 2005, said Alan Cole, president of Hooker Upholstery. Casegoods net sales increased $2.8 million, or 2 percent, during the fiscal year. Two noteworthy areas of growth for casegoods were the Envision line of casual, affordable furnishings targeted at younger consumers and sales to international customers.

"Envision sales and international sales each roughly doubled compared to last year," Toms said.

Looking ahead, Toms said consumer demand is improving, particularly in case goods, with significant double digit percentage increases for incoming orders during the first two months of the fiscal year.

"The momentum we've had for the last 11 months received another boost last week at the April High Point Market, where we introduced three major collections on the wood side that were all equally well-received," Toms said. "Strategically, we did the best job we've done to date in integrating our upholstery and wood furniture in room settings and in major collections, which mutually benefited both the wood and upholstery lines. We found retailers to be generally upbeat and eager to freshen their floors to prepare for improving business. The remerchandising and updating of our line over the last couple of years has helped us grow share of market and share of customer, as we've aligned with some of the largest  and healthiest retailers, who have also gained market share during the downturn. Freight rates have stabilized, and are having less of an impact each month. We should work through the inventory that reflects higher freight costs by the end of the first quarter. We're experiencing additional inflationary pressure with significant cost increases from wood and upholstery suppliers which we will offset with a price increase to our customers. By and large, our upper income consumer demographic is feeling more secure financially and is returning to the market. We're relatively optimistic, expecting modest improvements through the year with some bumps, but an overall positive trend."