Bassett Q3 EPS Falls On Lower Sales; Declares Dividend Of $0.20 Per Share

(RTTNews) – Tuesday, after the closing bell, Bassett Furniture Industries Inc. (BSET | charts | news | PowerRating) a manufacturer of branded home furnishings,

reported third quarter financial results for fiscal 2013, posting a net income that declined on lower net sales. The company also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share.

The Bassett, Virginia based company’s net income for the quarter declined to $0.4 million or $0.04 per share from $1.9 million or $0.16 per share in the same quarter a year earlier. Quarterly net income for fiscal 2012 included after-tax chares of $1.1 million or $0.09 per share, related to the company’s acquisition of seven direct stores. On average, three analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial expected the company to earn $0.12 per share for the quarter. The company turned to an operating loss of $0.89 million for the recent quarter from profit of $0.21 million in the last-year quarter.

Third quarter net sales decreased 6.3% to $77.6 million from $82.74 million in the comparable quarter last year, while gross profit declined to $23.96 million from $25.47 million in the year-ago quarter. Net sales of the company’s wholesale segment for the recent quarter were $67.2 million, down $8.3%, compared to $73.3 million in the last-year quarter, while sales of the retail segment was flat with the prior-year period at $20.1 million.

Net income for nine months improved to $5.63 million or $0.47 per share form $5.30 million or $0.44 per share last year. Earnings for the fist nine months of fiscal 2012 included after-tax charges of $2.6 million or $0.22 per share, in connection with Bassett’s acquisition of 15 BFD stores. The company recorded operating income of $1.68 million, compared to $0.70 million in the previous year.

Year-to-date net sales increased to $251.71 million from $246.56 million in the previous year, while gross profit rose to $79.62 million from $68.91 million a year earlier. Segment-wise, wholesale sales fell 2.3% to $218.9 million from $224.15 million in the year earlier, while retail sales for the period improved to $62.9 million from $46.65 million last year.

In addition, the company’s board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $.20 per share. The dividend is payable on December 1 to shareholders of record on November 15, 2013.

BSET ended Tuesday’s regular trading session at $16.84, down $0.02 or 0.12%, on a volume of 24,704 shares.

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