Natuzzi Q1 Sales off 8.8%

May 28, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on May 29, 2012

Italian leather furniture vendor Natuzzi's (NYSE: NTZ) reported first-quarter 2012 sales of 110.4 million euro, down 8.8 percent from the prior-year period.

The company lost 8.4 million euro for the March 31, compared with a loss of 3 million euro in first-quarter 2011.

Total upholstery net sales amounted to 95.8 million euro, down 9.1 percent from last year's first quarter. Those sales broke down geographically as follows: Europe (excluding Italy) 38.9 percent, down from 45.7 percent in first-quarter 2011; Americas 36.3 percent, up from 26 percent the prior year; Italy, 10.6 percent, off 14.2 percent from first-quarter 2011; and the rest of the world 14.2 percent, up slightly from 14.1 percent last year.

Natuzzi attributed decreasing European sales to the sovereign debt-related crisis and contraction in the Euro-area economic activity. Natuzzi's commercial efforts in North America, moderate economic recovery in the United States, and positive sales activity in South America contributed to strong growth in sales for the Americas region. Natuzzi's sales in Brazil showed robust improvement, up 228 percent to 1.7 million euro in first-quarter 2012.

"The difficult economic and market conditions still persist and have been further worsening over the past few months, thus negatively affecting the consumers€™ disposable income and, most of all, fostering a generalized lack of confidence and worries in the future, particularly evident in the European Union countries," said Natuzzi Chairman and CEO Pasquale Natuzzi. "But the overall picture is not entirely negative, though. The reduction in sales, particularly evident in Europe, was partially offset by a considerable increase in turnover from the Americas, where the Group started to recover market shares. In addition, we continued to strengthen our presence in the BRIC Countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), by expanding our distributive network
considerably. Besides, we closely watch some still growing markets, such as those in Middle East and Africa."

Click here for Natuzzi's first-quarter 2012 release.