Third-quarter sales climb 3.9% for HTL International

But currency markets cut profits for leather upholstery source

Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, November 15, 2010

SINGAPORE — Leather upholstery producer HTL International, who has become a major player in the North American market in recent years, said worldwide sales in the third quarter were 3.9% ahead of the same period last year.

Profits, however, were hammered by volatile foreign currency markets, especially a strong Singapore dollar and a weak U.S. dollar. Net income for the quarter was 1.38 million Singapore dollars or about $1.08 million, down about 83% from 8.09 million Singapore dollars or about $6.31 million in last year's third quarter.

The company, whose shares are traded on the Singapore Stock Exchange, said North America is its fastest growing market, representing slightly more than 15% of worldwide sales. Earlier this year, North America surpassed the Australia-New Zealand region as its second-largest market, HTL said in a filing with the stock exchange.

"We continue to gain market share and expansion of our customer base, (even though) the economic recovery in the USA remains uncertain," the company said in the regulatory filing.

Worldwide sales for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totaled 154.8 million Singapore dollars, or about $120.7 million, up from 149.9 million Singapore dollars or about $116.1 million a year earlier.

HTL didn't provide quarterly sales figures for North America, but said sales leaped nearly 88% in the region for the nine months ended Sept. 30 to the equivalent of about $56.6, up from $30.1 in the same period last year.

Europe remains the company's largest market, with sales of 287.5 million Singapore dollars or about $224.1 million in the first nine months, down 2.1% from 2009.

Worldwide sales for the first nine months were 469.9 million Singapore dollars, or about $366.3 million, up 8.1% increase from the same period in 2009.

Nine-month net income was 19 million Singapore dollars, or about $14.8 million. That's down from 27.6 million Singapore dollars, or about $21.5 million, in the first nine months of last year.