Jennifer posts $1.1M profit in qtr.
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, January 14, 2002
WOODBURY, N.Y. — Sofa-sleeper specialty retailer Jennifer Convertibles tightened its belt and posted a $1.1 million profit in its fiscal first quarter despite tough economic conditions and a same-store sales decline.
Profits for the quarter ended Nov. 24 were up from net income of $83,000 for the same period a year ago.
Sales for the period increased 0.8% to $33.1 million from $32.9 million. Same-store sales decreased 4.9%.
Operating margins increased as a result of a decrease in the cost of sales as a percentage of sales during the quarter to 62.6% from 63.2% for the same period a year ago. Selling, general and administrative expenses dropped as a percentage of sales to 32.2% from 35.2%.
"The results we experienced in this difficult September through November quarter are due to our flexible marketing and merchandising abilities and the continuous emphasis on expense reduction," said Harley Greenfield, chief executive officer of the Top 100 company, which has 176 Jennifer Convertibles and 17 Jennifer Leather stores.
"We continue to experience good demand for our product in this weak economic climate," he said.
In its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it had settled a lawsuit with the state of New Jersey that charged the company with false advertising and resulting customer complaints. All 18 Jennifer stores in the state were defendants.
Jennifer agreed to pay a total of $200,000 — about $165,000 related to the advertising charges and the rest to cover legal fees and administrative costs, Greenfield said.
The retailer already has accrued the money and taken the charge against first quarter earnings, he said.
| Quarter ended 11/24 | 2001 | 2000 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | $33,139,000 | $32,882,000 | 0.8% |
| Operating income | 1,712,000 | 531,000 | 222.4% |
| Net income | 1,058,000 | 83,000 | 1,174.7% |
| Earnings per share(a) | 0.15 | 0.01 | 1,400.0% |
| (a) Based on average shares outstanding of 7.1 million in the 2001 quarter and 7.3 million in the 2000 quarter. | |||
| • Decorize | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter ended 9/30 | (a)2001 | 2000 | Change | |
| Sales | $2,938,739 | $265,852 | 1005.4% | |
| Operating income | 45,575 | (69,220) | — | |
| Net income | (b)(179,945) | (77,616) | — | |
| Earnings per share(c) | (0.02) | (0.01) | — | |
| (a) Includes the results of Guildmaster's from its June 18, 2001 acquisition, and two months of revenue from Faith Walker Designs. (b) Includes a $154,599 pretax charge for stock-based compensation and a $5,100 income tax benefit. (c) Based on average shares outstanding of 10.1 million in the 2001 quarter and 5.8 million in the 2000 quarter. | ||||
