Select Comfort, Culp, Bombay lead pack in 2002 stock derby
By Jay McIntosh -- Furniture Today, January 26, 2003
High Point — Gainers balanced out losers last year as Furniture/Today's furniture stock index stayed nearly flat, slipping just 1.2%.
Not that it was a boring year. Most stocks were up or down by 10% or more.
Of all 38 stocks in U.S. companies tracked by Furniture/Today, exactly half were up and half were down. Canadian companies did better, with six out of seven posting healthy increases.
Leading the U.S. gainers were several companies that worked their way back into Wall Street's graces last year.
Airbed retailer and manufacturer Select Comfort was the big winner, with its stock price more than quadrupling to close at $9.40 a share on Dec. 31. It was the second big growth year in a row for the company's stock, after a 39% gain in 2001. The company has been earning higher profits and opening stores, and expects its business to keep growing this year.
More than doubling their stock price were fabric supplier Culp and retailer The Bombay Company, both of which continued to stage turnarounds in 2002.
It was the second strong year in a row for the stock of Culp, which has seen operating earnings improve sharply despite a sales decline. Bombay, meanwhile, was winning back investors' confidence with a series of double-digit monthly sales gains and a return to profitability.
Also slightly more than doubling in price were the stocks of rent-to-own retailer Bestway and retailer Jennifer Convertibles. Bestway has been closing underperforming stores and making other changes to improve its operations, and Jennifer has posted higher sales and earnings.
At the other end of the scale were three companies — Web-based importer Decorize, foam supplier Foamex International and ready-to-assemble furniture manufacturer Bush Inds. — whose stocks lost more than half their value in 2002.
Decorize, whose subsidiaries include Guildmaster, Faith Walk Designs and decorize.com, posted record revenues and its first quarterly profit in the three months ended last Sept. 30, but the improvements haven't swayed investors enough to push the stock price back up.
Foamex, which sells foam to furniture makers and others, has posted lower operating earnings because of higher raw materials prices and what it called a "challenging market." Bush also has had a difficult year, with net earnings down 66% for the first three quarters.
Leading the Canadian charge was Montreal-based retailer BMTC Group, which reported gains of 31% in sales and 54% in net income for the first nine months of last year.
The only Canadian company whose stock lost value was RTA maker Bestar, which posted a loss in the third quarter last year and is working to restart its growth after suffering through declines in the past couple years in the U.S. small office/home office market.
| Year-end furniture stocks ups, downs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Percent change in closing price, Dec. 31, 2002 | |||
| Close 12/31/01 | Close 12/31/02 | Percent Change | |
| 1. The Furniture/Today index includes 24 footnoted furniture stocks (Dec. 30, 1988 = 100). 2. American Depository Receipts (ADRs). 3. Prices in Canadian dollars. Source: Data Network, Huntington, N.Y. Information and data herein though believed accurate, is not guaranteed. Data Network is not liable for any inaccuracies. A = American Stock Exchange; M = Montreal Stock Exchange; N = New York Stock Exchange; O = Over the counter; T = Toronto Stock Exchange |
|||
| GAINERS | |||
| Select Comfort1 (O,SCSS) | 2.00 | 9.40 | 370.0% |
| Culp1 (N,CFI) | 3.80 | 8.50 | 123.7 |
| The Bombay Company1 (N,BBA) | 2.28 | 5.00 | 119.3 |
| Bestway (O,BSTW) | 4.00 | 8.25 | 106.3 |
| Jennifer Convertibles1 (O,JENN) | 2.45 | 5.00 | 104.1 |
| Hooker Furniture1 (O,HOFT) | 9.25 | 18.62 | 101.3 |
| Aaron Rents (Class A)1 (N,RNTA) | 13.50 | 22.70 | 68.1 |
| Rent-A-Center (O,RCII) | 33.57 | 49.95 | 48.8 |
| Flexsteel Inds.1 (O,FLXS) | 11.25 | 16.72 | 48.6 |
| Rowe1 (N,ROW) | 1.20 | 1.76 | 46.7 |
| Aaron Rents1 (N,RNT) | 16.30 | 21.88 | 34.2 |
| Chromcraft Revington1 (N,CRC) | 10.78 | 13.05 | 21.1 |
| DMI Furniture1 (O,DMIF) | 1.60 | 1.79 | 11.9 |
| Valspar (N,VAL) | 39.60 | 44.18 | 11.6 |
| CFC International (O,CFCI) | 4.00 | 4.45 | 11.3 |
| La-Z-Boy1 (N,LZB0) | 21.82 | 23.98 | 9.9 |
| Pier 1 Imports1 (N,PIR) | 17.34 | 18.93 | 9.2 |
| Cost Plus1 (O,CPWM) | 26.50 | 28.67 | 8.2 |
| Bassett Furniture1 (O,BSET) | 14.01 | 14.32 | 2.2 |
| LOSERS | |||
| Stanley Furniture1 (O,STLY) | 23.77 | 23.25 | -2.2% |
| Leggett & Platt1 (N,LEG) | 23.00 | 22.44 | -2.4 |
| Cone Mills (N,COE) | 1.80 | 1.72 | -4.4 |
| Kimball International (O,KBAL) | 15.15 | 14.25 | -5.9 |
| Keller Manufacturing1 (O,KMFC) | 3.05 | 2.65 | -13.1 |
| Masco (N,MAS) | 24.50 | 21.05 | -14.1 |
| Haverty Furniture (Class A) (N,HVTA) | 16.35 | 14.00 | -14.4 |
| Haverty Furniture1 (N,HVT) | 16.55 | 13.90 | -16.0 |
| Quaker Fabric (O,QFAB) | 8.31 | 6.95 | -16.4 |
| Ethan Allen1 (N,ETH) | 41.59 | 34.37 | -17.4 |
| Knape & Vogt (O,KNAP) | 13.15 | 10.65 | -19.0 |
| Furniture Brands Intl.1 (N,FBN) | 32.02 | 23.85 | -25.5 |
| Rainbow Rentals (O,RBOW) | 7.11 | 5.20 | -26.9 |
| Natuzzi2 (N,NTZ) | 14.64 | 10.16 | -30.6 |
| Rent-Way (N,RWY) | 5.99 | 3.50 | -41.6 |
| Restoration Hardware1 (O,RSTO) | 8.94 | 5.01 | -44.0 |
| Bush Ind.1 (N,BSH) | 10.86 | 4.84 | -55.4 |
| Foamex International1 (O,FMXI) | 8.10 | 3.16 | -61.0 |
| Decorize (A,DCZ) | 3.25 | 1.12 | -65.5 |
| CANADIAN COS. 3 | |||
| BMTC Group (T,GBTA) | 8.63 | 14.35 | 66.4% |
| RTO Enterprises (T,RTO) | 4.70 | 6.50 | 38.3 |
| Leon's Furniture (T,LNF) | 23.00 | 30.75 | 33.7 |
| Shermag (T,SMG) | 9.70 | 11.70 | 20.6 |
| Amisco (T,IAC) | 5.00 | 5.95 | 19.0 |
| Dorel Inds. (T,DIIA) | 32.25 | 35.75 | 10.9 |
| Bestar (T,BES) | 1.25 | 0.75 | -40.0 |
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