Bassett Q1 Sales up 31%

April 4, 2013  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on April 5, 2013

Bassett Furniture (NASDAQ:BSET) rang up first-quarter 2013 sales of $79.8 million, a 31 percent increase over the prior-year period.

Operating profit for the quarter was $2.4 million versus $0.2 million for first-quarter 2012.

Wholesale sales increased 27 percent compared with the prior year quarter. Bassett, Bassett, Va., said company owned-store delivered sales were up 29 percent rise, along with a 16 percent increase among 48 comparable stores.

Due to the company's fiscal calendar, the first quarter of 2013 consisted of 14 weeks while the first quarter of 2012 consisted of 13 weeks.

"The sales momentum that we enjoyed at the end of 2012 continued during the first quarter of 2013 as we posted an exciting 31 percent increase in consolidated revenue," said Robert H. Spilman Jr., president and CEO. "Allowing for the extra week in this year's fiscal calendar, the company grew revenue by 22 percent on a normalized basis. The same factors that propelled our business during the second half of last year drove this quarter's increase--improving sales in our Bassett Home Furnishings stores and market share gains with independent retailers. Operating profit continued to improve as both our wholesale and retail segments posted markedly better results than a year ago. These positive trends combined with our financial strength make us well positioned to continue to grow our top line and further enhance operating performance in the future."

Net sales for Company-owned stores were $50 million for the first quarter of 2013 as compared with $38.8 million for the first quarter of 2012. The increase was comprised of a $6.1 million or 16 percent increase in comparable store sales along with a $5.1 million increase in non-comparable store sales. On an average weekly basis (normalizing for the extra week in the first quarter of 2013), comparable store sales increased 7.6 percent.

While the Company does not recognize sales until goods are delivered to the customer, management tracks written sales (the dollar value of sales orders taken, rather than delivered) as a key store performance indicator. Written sales for comparable stores increased by 20 percent for the first quarter of 2013 as compared to the first quarter of 2012. On an average weekly basis, written sales for comparable stores increased by 12 percent.

Operating results for the Company-owned stores improved from a loss of $1 million in the first quarter of 2012 to a loss of $0.6 million in the first quarter of 2013. This improvement was primarily driven by the increased sales noted above.

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