Furniture Brands Reports Smaller Earnings

January 25, 2006  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on January 2006 Furniture Brands International reported this week its net income for the year ending Dec. 31.

The furniture manufacturer reported a net income of $61.4 million, a decrease of $30.2 million compared with $91.6 million reported last year. Sales for the year were $2.39 billion, a 2.5 percent decrease compared with $2.45 billion for the previous year.

In the fourth quarter, the company made $17.1 million on $593.5 million in net sales. That compares with net income of $22.3 million on $602 million in sales during the same quarter of 2004.

Included in the fourth quarter earnings were restructuring, asset impairment and severance charges of $1 million, compared with similar charges of $1.5 million during the fourth quarter of 2004.

Year-end results were impacted by restructuring, asset impairment and severance charges totaling $13.9 million, compared to similar charges during 2004 of $5.9 million.

Mickey Holliman, chairman and chief executive officer, said the company continues to see a difference in revenues across its brands.

"Weakness at Broyhill was partially offset by revenue increases at Thomasville and revenues were essentially flat at Lane and HDM," he said. "Lower volume at Broyhill combined with raw material price increases across all our brands contributed to the year-over-year earnings decline. The combined effect of these was partially offset by selected price increases and ongoing cost savings programs."

Holliman said the company is pursuing strategies to drive growth and profitability.

"Our senior management team is focused on building our brands through aggressive marketing, product development and consumer research," he said. "The consolidation of back office and manufacturing operations of our high-end brands is on plan. Our logistics and supply chain, procurement and retail development processes are being streamlined across all our brands."