Amisco Breaks Even for 2006

February 6, 2007  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on February 2007 Metal furniture manufacturer Amisco Inds. Ltd. reported fourth quarter and fiscal year sales of (Canadian) $8.1 million and $35.3 million, respectively. Those figures represent declines from prior-year performance of 31.9 percent for the quarter, and 20 percent for the year, which ended Nov. 30, 2006.

L’Islet, Quebec-based Amisco had fourth-quarter net income of $181,555, bringing its earnings for fiscal 2006 to $19,214, compared with $2.1 million in 2005.

Amisco cited Asian competition, changes in the retail furniture industry and, above all, the decline in the average rate used to convert its U.S. sales into Canadian dollars for the decline in sales and profitability in 2006. The U.S. market accounted for 65 percent of Amisco’s business for the year.

In Canada, sales fell 17.9 percent to $12.3 million, down from $15 million the previous year. U.S. sales declined by 21.2 percent, from $29.1 million in 2005 to $23 million in 2006. These U.S. sales were recognized at an average conversion rate of 1.247, compared with a rate of 1.506 in 2005 when the company’s U.S. sales were hedged by advantageous forward exchange contracts. Without this hedging, the average conversion rate would have been 1.1352 in 2006 and 1.2161 in 2005. In U.S. dollars, the U.S. sales were down by only 4.8 percent.