Sealy Not Resting Easy About Competition

July 10, 2007  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Mattresses on July 2007 Despite a hotly competitive environment, Trinity, N.C.-based Sealy, the world’s largest bedding manufacturer, saw net sales increase 6.7 percent to $401.8 million during its second quarter. Gross profit rose 2.3 percent to $172.5 million during the quarter.

International sales increased by 15.8 percent, which was the seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit increases in markets outside the United States.

Chairman and CEO David McIlquham said the company faced a number of challenges during the quarter.

“We remain focused on driving unit growth and protecting our position with retailers as we navigate through the flame retardancy (FR) conversion with our customers, soft industry unit trends, growing demand for specialty products and a challenging competitive environment. As expected, this strategy has resulted in near-term pressure on margins and costs, but we are operating Sealy for long-term growth and are positioning ourselves to optimize the opportunity as the industry turns,” he said.

McIlquham said the company is pleased with early sales results of its new Stearns & Foster and Posturepedic Reserve lines and its growth in the specialty and promotional mattress segments.