Conn's posts $12.7M loss as sales grow 5.2%

Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, December 12, 2011

BEAUMONT, Texas - Despite a 5.2% jump in sales, retailer Conn's Inc. said its net loss for the quarter ended Oct. 31 increased to $12.7 million or 40 cents per share.
     In the same quarter last year, the loss totaled $4.78 million or 19 cents per share.
     Revenues for the quarter totaled $179.5 million, an increase of 5.2% from $170.6 million in the comparable period last year.
     The retailer, which sells furniture, bedding, consumer electronics, appliances, and lawn and garden equipment, didn't provide sales figures for product categories. However, the company said its retail gross margin rose 2.4 percentage points to 28.2% - a figure driven by increased sales of furniture and bedding, which have higher margins than other products.
     "I am encouraged by our sales performance, as we returned to positive same-store sales during the quarter," said Theodore Wright, president and CEO. "The improvements in our retail operating performance carried over into the month of November, when we experienced a same-store sales increase of 10.5%."
     For Conn's most recent fiscal year, which ended Jan. 31, furniture and bedding sales were $75.9 million, or about 9.6% of total revenues.
     For the nine months ended Oct. 31, total revenues were $554.4 million, down 4.7% from $581.4 million in the same period in 2010.
     The nine-month net loss totaled $11.4 million or 36 cents per share. That compares with net income of $2.51 million or 10 cents per share in the same period last year.
     Conn's has 70 stores in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
     In a related move, the company said Wright, who has been interim president and CEO since February, has been named to those posts permanently. Wright has been a member of the board of directors since 2003.