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From Home Furnishing Business
Culp Reports 1Q Income of $3.3 Million
September 5,
2014 by in Financial Reports, Industry 
Furniture fabrics and mattress ticking supplier Culp Inc. (NYSE: CULP) reported net income of $3.3 million for the first quarter ended Aug. 3, compared to net income of $3.2 million during the same quarter last year.
Net sals for the first quarter were $76.1 million, an 8.4 percent increase from $70.1 million in the first quarter of last year. The company said mattress ticking sales climbed 12.2 percent and upholstery fabric sales were up 3.9 percent.
"Overall, our first fiscal quarter performance was in line with our expectations, marking a solid start to fiscal 2015," said Frank Saxon, president and CEO. "We continue to experience favorable customer response to our creative designs and wide range of innovative products. Our focused effort on product excellence has been the key driver of our growth, and we will continue to pursue this same strategy in fiscal 2015."
Mattress fabric sales for the first quarter were $42.8 million compared with $38.2 million in the first quarter of last year. Iv Culp, president of the company's mattress division, said the company continues to see increased demand for premium ticking. To meet the growing demand, the company is in the midst of a $9.5 million expansion to boost production and finishing capabilities.
“Overall, the fundamentals of our mattress fabrics business are strong, and Culp has a solid competitive position as we continue to outpace the overall industry growth," Culp said. "While we have many changes underway in our operations, we remain confident about our ability to execute our strategy with continued success in fiscal 2015.”
Sales of upholstery fabrics were $33.2 million for the first quarter compared with $32 million in sales in the first quarter of last year.
“We are pleased with our upholstery fabrics sales performance for the first quarter of fiscal 2015, especially when compared with the exceptionally high level of sales for the first quarter of last fiscal year,” said Boyd Chumbley, executive vice president of the upholstery fabrics division. “Notably, we increased our sales of cut and sewn kits compared with a year ago, reflecting increased demand for this product category."
Looking forward, Saxon said the company expects overall sales for the second quarter to be between 1 percent and 5 percent higher as compared with the second quarter of last year.