Ethan Allen Rocks Q3

April 23, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on April 24, 2012

Ethan Allen Interiors (NYSE: ETH) reported third-quarter 2012 sales of $175.9 million, an 8 percent increase over prior-year numbers.

For nine-months ended March 31, sales were up 8.6 percent to $544.1 million compared with the first three quarters of fiscal 2011.

Third-quarter net income was way up, with Ethan Allen earning $27.5 million, compared with $3.5 million for the same period last year. Through fiscal 2012's first nine months, Ethan Allen netted $42.4 million, compared with $22.1 million at the same prior-year point.

Retail division third-quarter net sales rose 12.3 percent to $131.4 million including comparable design center net sales growth of 9.4 percent. For fiscal 2012's first three quarters, retail division net sales increased 12.6 percent to $415.7 million, and comparable design center net sales grew 10.2 percent.

"During our third quarter ended March 31 with an 8 percent increase in sales, our  said Farooq Kathwari, chairman and CEO of Ethan Allen, Danbury, Conn., noted that third-quarter adjusted net income per share doubled "reflecting continued operating leverage from our vertically integrated structure."

He added that the retail division's written (booked) orders during the quarter increased 11 percent, and were $30 million greater than shipments during the quarter.

"The recession has further accelerated our focus on major initiatives in all areas of our enterprise including a 60 percent change in our product offerings in less than one year," Kathwari said. "In addition, we continue to invest in acquiring talented interior design associates and management in our Retail division. While increasing our expenses, this investment provides an opportunity to grow our sales by enhancing our competitive advantage of providing complimentary interior design services."

Ethan Allen will complete its new-product launch in the fourth quarter.

"In addition, we will launch in June 'Ethan Allen Express,' a new major initiative," Kathwari said. "The objective of this initiative is to expand our reach to more consumers. The program will consist of selected products with good price points and fast deliveries from our five lifestyles. Our plan is to strongly market this program during the next six months. As we stated in our previous press release, while recognizing the uncertain macro-economic conditions, we remain cautiously optimistic due to our many initiatives."

Click here for the complete Ethan Allen Interiors release.