Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Flexsteel Posts Encouraging First Quarter 2023 Results
October 26,
2022 by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Industry 
Flexsteel Industries, Inc., manufacturers, importers, and marketers of residential furniture products in the United States, reported their first quarter fiscal year 2023 financial results.
Flexsteel’s net sales for the quarter decreased 30.5% to $95.7 million compared to $137.7 million in the prior year’s quarter. The gross margin decreased from 16.0% from 17.0% from the prior year. The cash flow from operations was $13 million and the repaid debt in the amount of $7.7 million.
The company came out with quarterly earnings of $0.09 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.25 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.48 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 136%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this furniture maker would post earnings of $0.43 per share when it produced earnings of $0.41, delivering a surprise of -4.65%.
"Despite challenging macroeconomic conditions, including weakened demand, intensifying competitive pricing pressures and an overabundance of retail inventory, we were able to deliver solid results in the first quarter,” said Jerry Dittmer, president and CEO of Flexsteel Industries.
“I am encouraged that we were able to adjust to these challenges and deliver sales for the quarter of $95.7 million, which outperformed our sales guidance of $80 to $90 million." Compared to pre-pandemic sales from the first quarter of fiscal 2020, home furnishings product sales were up $6.5 million, or 7.3%.
Mr. Dittmer concludes, "At the same time that we’re advancing our growth initiatives, we are mindful of looming economic uncertainties and the need to remain operationally and financially agile if market conditions were to change quickly. Our top priority is growth and servicing customers; however, we are also focused near-term on working capital improvements, generating cash, and reducing debt to effectively navigate various economic scenarios without compromising our growth pursuits.”
“I’m confident that the investments we’ve made, and will continue to make, in talent, product innovation, operational capabilities and customer experience improvements, have effectively positioned us to compete well in the near term as well as achieve our longer-term vision for the company."