Bassett reports $4 million loss in fourth quarter
Sales down 1% to $76 million
Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, January 29, 2008
BASSETT, Va. — Bassett Furniture Inds. said its fourth-quarter sales declined 1% from a year earlier to $76 million and the company recorded a net loss of $4 million.
The loss, which was attributed to soft retail business conditions, would have been wider had it not been for $2.1 million the company received from antidumping duties collected from Chinese bedroom furniture producers. That was up from $1.5 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
The sales decline also would have been wider had it not been for a change in invoicing practices that took effect in July. Excluding the effects of this change, sales were down 6% in the fourth quarter.
“Overall conditions for our industry and our company have been difficult all year and continue to be difficult today,” said Rob Spilman, president and CEO. He described the current sales softness as “the worst industry-wide sales slump in memory.”
Spilman said Bassett will continue to focus on improving its Bassett Furniture Direct stores by investing in marketing and tweaking a store design program that was unveiled last year in prototype stores in Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta.
At the end of its fiscal fourth quarter there were 130 BFD stores, including 32 company-owned units.
Total sales for the quarter ended Nov. 24 were $76 million, down from $76.5 million in last year’s fourth quarter. The most recent quarter’s net loss, which equals 34 cents per share, compares with net income of $359,000 or 3 cents per share in the same period last year.
For the year ended Nov. 24 sales were $295.4 million, down 10% from $328.2 million in the year ended Nov. 25, 2006. Without the invoicing practice change, they would have been down 12%, the company said.
The net loss for the year totaled $9.9 million or 84 cents per share. That compares with net income of $5.4 million or 46 cents per share the previous year.
Separately, Costa Brava Partnership III L.P., which owns about 5.1% of Bassett’s outstanding stock, has nominated seven candidates to the company’s board, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Costa Brava said it plans to constitute a majority of Bassett’s board.
As of Jan. 28, the group of investors had accumulated 605,923 Bassett shares. Costa Brava said it believes the company’s shares are undervalued. Bassett typically holds its annual meeting in mid-April.
Costa Brava said it began purchasing shares on Dec. 26 at $8.73 per share. Bassett’s shares closed at $12.45 on Tuesday.
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Bassett 4Q sales down 1%
Feb 3, 2008
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