Natuzzi’s Net Sales in the Americas Declined 27.3 Percent

May 23, 2007  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on May 2007 Contending with tough business conditions, especially in the United States, Natuzzi reported a 18.3 percent decline in revenues during its first quarter and an operating loss during the period. Net sales in the Americas declined 27.3 percent, Italy’s largest furniture manufacturer reported Wednesday.

“As previously anticipated, first-quarter 2007 turnover performance was affected by the challenging business environment in all the major markets,” said CEO Ernesto Greco. “In the U.S., the business level was even more depressed, as confirmed by other major players, mainly due to the low consumer confidence and to the sharp decline” in home sales, he said. “(Despite) the persistence of such tough business conditions, we remain committed in investing in the Natuzzi brand repositioning encouraged by the favorable acceptance of our new models presented during the last International Milan (Furniture) Fair. We are continuing the reorganization process of the retail activities as well as our ongoing restructuring process of our production to better match our cost structure with the pace of incoming orders.”

For the quarter ended March 31, total net sales were EURO 153.8 million, down from EURO 188.2 the previous year. The company posted a net loss of EURO 4.7 million versus net earnings of EURO 6.8 million the previous year.

Furniture retailers operate more than 547 Natuzzi galleries worldwide. In addition the company sells through 125 Divani & Divani by Natuzzi stores in Italy and 158 licensed stores in the rest of the world.