Sealy sales fall 20.5% in quarter
Company takes refinancing charge, posts $5.2 million loss
Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, July 1, 2009
ARCHDALE, N.C. — Bedding major Sealy Corp. swung to a net loss of $5.2 million in the quarter ended May 31 as sales fell 20.5%.The loss included one-time charges of $11.9 million stemming from the company's recent refinancing of its senior credit facility.
The loss in the most recent period, the second quarter of Sealy's fiscal year, equals 6 cents per share. In the same quarter last year, the company had net income of $12 million or 13 cents per share.
Worldwide sales totaled $298.5 million, compared with $375.4 million in last year's second fiscal quarter.
Wholesale domestic sales, which don't include third-party sales from Sealy's components plants, were down 13.8% to $217.9 million. Domestic unit volume tumbled 13.2% and the average unit selling price fell 0.7%, the company said.
International sales were $76 million, a 34.9% drop from last year's second quarter, due largely to a weak retail environment in Canada and Europe.
"During the second quarter, we were able to strengthen our competitive position, execute consistently on our strategic initiatives, and substantially improve our operating performance compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2009, despite the continuation of challenging global macroeconomic conditions and a difficult retail environment," said Larry Rogers, president and CEO.
Sealy said its selling, general and administrative expenses in the quarter were 17.9% lower than in the same period a year ago. Part of the decline was due to reductions in national advertising spending, personnel costs, product launch costs, and related fixed operating costs.
For the six months ended May 31, worldwide sales were down 20.7% to $608.4 million.
The six-month loss totaled $492,000 or 1 cent per share. That compares with net income of $28.2 million or 30 cents per share in the first half of the previous fiscal year.
As of May 31, Sealy's debt, net of cash, stood at $760.9 million.
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My smaller suppliers are booming.
the public is less brand consiuous than they
used to be. I save 30-50% on similar quality.
Plus i get better quicker service than i used to
get from sealy.
matttress man - 2009-3-7 06:58:53 EDT -
Sealy and Simmons need to get their sales reps back. Mom and Pop stores like mine are more loyal and more deserving of the attention of a sales rep than many larger chain stores. We're not more needy than the big guys and we don't usually require coddling or the stroking of our egos so much. But sometimes, we'd just like the help of someone who has actually visited our stores. I had a call-center rep who told me that I needed to hone up my sales-training, owing to turn-over, etc. in my sales force. I said, "What turnover? There's only three of us here and we've all been here over 5 years." If she had ever visited my store, she'd know this.
Lora H - 2009-2-7 10:59:04 EDT -
come on- loss due to a one time charge with financing covered to 2014? profits go from 12m to 6m on operations? I'm a little concerned about the cut in advertising, but I exercised my rights. It's a killing by 2015.
David Schierholz - 2009-2-7 06:01:53 EDT -
Maybe keeping there reps would have been a good idea.
Former Sealy Dealer - 2009-1-7 16:52:29 EDT
