Brick Group sales rise 17.1%
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, June 5, 2006
Edmonton, Alberta — Sales and earnings improved in the first quarter for The Brick Group Income Fund as the retailer converted some of its United Furniture Warehouse stores to The Brick banner.
Sales rose 17.1% from the comparable period a year earlier to C$297.7 million, largely driven by same-store sales growth of 12.2%. Some 8.5% of the same-store growth was at The Brick stores, and the remainder stemmed from clearance sales related to the rebannering, the company said.
Net earnings came to C$2.2 million, reversing a C$2.3 million net loss a year earlier. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, increased 82.8% to C$9.7 million.
"For the balance of the year, we will continue to focus on executing and completing our rebannering initiative," said President and CEO Kim Yost. "In addition, we will continue to manage our ongoing strategic growth initiatives, including the build-out of our distribution infrastructure, the build-out of our Quebec market presence, and the growth of our franchise operations and financial services segment."
The Brick acquired United Furniture Warehouse in March 2004. In this year's first quarter, the company converted 13 UFW stores to The Brick and one to a Brick Clearance Center. It also closed two UFW locations and opened one Brick Mattress store. As of March 31, there were 172 company-owned stores and 21 franchise stores.
The company opened an 859,000-square-foot distribution center in Mississauga, Ontario, in February.
The income fund said its cash distribution to unit holders remained unchanged in the first quarter at 30 Canadian cents per trust unit.
