Amisco sales fall 13.3% in 3Q; U.S. market soft
— Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, October 6, 2008
L'ISLET, Quebec — L'ISLET, Quebec — Still stung by the strong Canadian dollar and a weak U.S. economy, metal furniture specialist Amisco Inds. reported a 13.3% sales decline in its fiscal third quarter and a larger loss.
Sales for the three months ended Aug. 30 came to C$6.3 million and the net loss was C$149,868 or 4 cents per share, compared with a loss of C$22,817 or 1 cent per share for the third quarter last year.
Amisco reported that sales to Canadian retailers were up slightly for the quarter at C$3 million but its U.S. volume plunged 23.3% to C$3.3 million.
Company officials said in a statement that Amisco's “January 2008 launch of new products only started to yield benefits as of the third quarter of the current fiscal year, whereas the related sales are normally reported in the second quarter.”
However, on the positive side of the ledger, gross margins were up slightly in the quarter to 20%.
For the nine months ended Aug. 30, sales of C$18.1 million were down 19.7% from the comparable 2007 period. The company posted a net loss of C$131,244 or 3.3 cents per share for the year to date, compared with net earnings of C$407,252 or 10 cents per share for the first three quarters of the 2007 fiscal year.
| Amisco (a) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Figures in parentheses are losses or declines. | |||
| (a) In Canadian dollars. (b) Includes net investment losses of C$335,000 in the 2008 quarter and C$170,000 in the 2008 nine months, and net investment gains of C$59,000 in the 2007 quarter and C$498,000 in the 2007 nine months. Also includes currency exchange gains of C$101,000 in the 2008 quarter and C$100,000 in the 2008 nine months, and currency exchange losses of C$14,000 in the 2007 quarter and C$155,000 in the 2007 nine months. (c) Basic earnings per share. |
|||
| Quarter ended 8/30 | 2008 | 2007 | Change |
| Sales | C$6,283,000 | C$7,249,000 | (13.3%) |
| Operating income | 16,000 | (101,000) | — |
| Net income (b) | (150,000) | (23,000) | — |
| Earnings per share (c) | (0.04) | (0.01) | — |
| 9 months ended 8/30 | 2008 | 2007 | Change |
| Sales | C$18,094,000 | C$22,546,000 | (19.7%) |
| Operating income | (196,000) | 166,000 | — |
| Net income (b) | (131,000) | 407,000 | — |
| Earnings per share (c) | (0.03) | 0.10 | — |
