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Sealy's 4Q sales tumble 9.2%

Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, January 23, 2012

ARCHDALE, N.C. - Mattress industry major Sealy Inc. said sales fell 9.2% in the fiscal fourth quarter and its net loss increased to $15.21 million.
     The company said the sales decline was due largely to reduced sales of promotionally priced goods in the U.S. and Canadian markets. In addition, the top line was hurt by subsidies to retailers that are charged as a reduction in sales.
     Worldwide sales for the quarter ended Nov. 27 were $269.3 million, down from $296.5 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
     Sealy said U.S. sales fell 9.6% to $203 million and wholesale unit volume was down 5.7%, excluding third party sales from its components plants.
     The quarterly net loss, which equals 15 cents per share, compares with a net loss of $4.48 million in last year's fiscal fourth quarter. Earnings per share were break-even a year ago, partly because of a substantially higher number of shares.
     "We were disappointed with our performance in the fourth quarter and the full fiscal year 2011," said Larry Rogers, Sealy's president and CEO. "These results were not in line with the goals that we set forth in the beginning of 2011 and we are making operational changes to improve our future business results."
     The figures include losses from discontinued operations $1.18 million in the most recent quarter and $7.97 million in the comparable quarter in 2010. Excluding those numbers, Sealy recorded a loss of $14.03 million in the most recent quarter and had net income of $3.49 million in the comparable period in 2010.
     For the fiscal year ended Nov. 27, worldwide sales rose 0.9% to $1.23 billion. U.S. sales totaled $952.4 million, up 0.1% from $951.1 million the previous year.
     The company had a net loss of $9.89 million or 10 cents per share for the year. That compares with a loss of $13.74 million in the previous fiscal year.
     Excluding losses from discontinued operations, the bottom line was a loss of $5.66 million in the most recent year and a profit of $24.67 million the previous year.
     "As we look forward into 2012, we expect the industry to continue to experience higher growth in upper and lower priced product rather than growth in products at the middle price points," Rogers said. "Accordingly, we are focused on a successful launch of our Next Generation Stearns & Foster and the development of our new specialty division at the upper price points of the market and recapturing momentum at the lower price points."

Sealy
Earnings per share are fully diluted, and all figures in parentheses are losses or declines.
Quarter ended 11/27	2011	2010	Change
Sales	$269,259,000	$296,554,000	(9.2%)
Operating income	(803,000)	23,887,000
Net income (a)	(15,207,000)	(4,480,000)
Earnings per share (b)	(0.15)	0.00
Year ended 11/27	2011	2010	Change
Sales	$1,230,151,000	$1,219,471,000	0.9%
Operating income	64,467,000	111,447,000	42.2%)
Net income (c)	(9,888,000)	(13,739,000)
Earnings per share (d)	(0.10)	0.01
(a) Includes loss from discontinued operations of $1.18 million in 2011 and $7.97 million in 2010. (b) Based on weighted average share count of 100.9 million in 2011 and 296.2 million in 2010. (c) Includes loss from discontinued operations of $4.23 million in 2011 and $38.4 million in 2010. (d) Based on weighted average share count of 99.3 million in 2011 and 289.9 million in 2010.

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Sealy posts 9.2% sales decline, $15.2 million loss in fourth quarter

Jan 19, 2012

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