Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Domestic Factories Drive Sales, Earnings Gains at Bassett in Q3
September 29,
2022 by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Industry 
Driven by the improved performance of its domestic upholstery and case goods factories, Bassett Furniture Inds. said net income more than doubled in the quarter ended Aug. 27 on a 12.5 percent rise in sales.
The company said profits totaled $7.63 million or 82 cents per share. That’s up from $3.02 million or 31 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Sales in the most recent quarter totaled $118 million, up from $104.9 million in the comparable quarter.
The company said shipments of domestically produced goods rose 18.1 percent, while shipments of imported goods fell 15.7 percent.
“Significant for the period was the resurgent performance of our Newton, N.C., upholstery complex where combined shipments grew by 21.5 percent and divisional profitability returned to pre-covid levels,” said Robert Spilman Jr., chairman and CEO. “We are now producing goods with material costs that are fully reflected in the price for which they are invoiced as the rampant price increases that we have absorbed over the past two years have subsided.”
“Further, we are excited by the early retail success of the new “Modern Casual” product range that hit stores in time for Labor Day, which we are counting on to help keep our production schedules on track moving forward.”
Spilman also noted that shipments of the company’s outdoor seating line jumped 30.3 percent in the quarter.
“Fabric outages have improved significantly from the depths of the pandemic related chaos of 2021 and our lead times have markedly improved in the past few months,” Spilman said, noting that the only factor offsetting the strong quarter was the high inventory level of its Club Level imported upholstery line.
He said Bassett has been aggressively discounting portions of the Club Level line and will continue to do so over the next six months to get inventories back to historic levels.
At Bassett’s corporate retail stores, sales totaled $70.9 million in the quarter, up 12.3 percent from the same quarter last year.
Spilman said he believes the company will continue to do well into 2023 despite uncertainty about the economy.
“We trust that the collective strength provided by our domestic manufacturing platform, international sourcing partnerships, dedicated distribution network, best in class logistics system, and burgeoning digital capabilities portend continued success for Bassett despite the challenges that currently exist for the U.S. economy,” he said.