Consumer confidence up slightly in May
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, May 30, 2004
NEW YORK — NEW YORK — A slight gain in overall confidence in May, coupled with a similarly small increase in consumers' buying plans for big-ticket items, may signal that consumers are taking a wait-and-see attitude about the present compared with the near future.
In May, The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index was 93.2, up a narrow 0.2 points over April.
The Present Situation Index dipped from 90.4 in April to 90.3 in May, and the Expectations Index inched up 0.4 points to finish at 95.2 in May.
Looking ahead, 3.8% of May's survey participants planned to buy a home in the next six months, up slightly from April's 3.6%. A year ago, 3.8% said they expected to purchase a home within six months.
Buying plans for other big-ticket items were mixed from April to May.
In May, 6.1% of participants planned to buy an automobile in the next six months, compared with 6.6% in April. Meanwhile, 32.6% of those surveyed in May expected to buy a major appliance in the next six months, up from 31.2% in April.
In May 2003, 7.7% of participants planned to buy a car in the next six months and 31.6% planned to purchase a major appliance.
The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The cutoff date for May's preliminary results was May 18.
| Financial results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings per share are fully diluted, and all figures in parentheses are loses or declines. | |||
| Quarter ended 5/1 | 2004 | 2003 | Change |
| Cost Plus World Market | |||
| Sales | $185,703,000 | $159,218,000 | 16.6% |
| Operating income | 7,624,000 | 5,816,000 | 31.1% |
| Net income | 3,297,000 | 2,563,000 | 28.6% |
| Earnings per share | 0.15 | 0.12 | 25.0% |
| Kimball International | |||
| Owns Kimball Home Furniture | |||
| 9 months ended 3/31 | 2004 | 2003 | Change |
| Sales | $860,624,000 | $878,311,000 | (2.0%) |
| Operating income | 15,999,000 | 17,989,000 | (11.1%) |
| Net income (a) | 14,049,000 | 2,753,000 | 410.3% |
| Earnings per share (b) | 0.37 | 0.08 | 362.5% |
| (a) Includes pretax charges for restructuring and other expenses of $3.3 million in the 2004 quarter and $19.5 million in the 2003 quarter. (b) Class B. Based on average shares outstanding of 38.3 million in the 2004 quarter and 38.1 million in the 2003 quarter. |
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