Furniture Today,
EDMONTON — (CNW) — The Brick Group Income Fund said total sales growth was 4.5% for the
third quarter, and 8.9% for the first nine months over the same period in the prior year.
Same store sales growth for the third quarter was 2.9%, and 6% for the first nine months of 2013 over the same period last year.
Results to date of the rebannering initiative announced in the first quarter of 2013 have been very positive and are on track to meet, if not exceed, management’s target incremental EBITDA of $4 million by the end of the year.
Offsetting gains from strong same store sales and the positive impact of the rebannering initiative, the Brick Group incurred higher than anticipated costs associated with its ongoing build out of its delivery and distribution centre infrastructure.
As a result of these costs, third quarter EBITDA remained relatively flat to the prior year for the same period, coming in at $0.3 million below last year. For the first nine months of the year, EBITDA growth was up 12% as compared to the same period last year, driven primarily by the success of management’s top line initiatives, including the ongoing growth of the financial services segment.
Through the end of September 2013, and for the 26th consecutive month since becoming an income fund, we have continued to meet all of our distribution commitments.
“We’ve shown strong total and same store sales growth over last year. Our rebannering initiative is proving to be the success we anticipated, our remaining core United Furniture stores are operating well and contributing positively to results, and we have now completed the last stage of our distribution centre infrastructure build out with the expansion of our Burnaby distribution centre. Despite gains on these key fronts, our EBITDA for the third quarter remained relatively flat to prior year, primarily driven by costs associated with the build out of our delivery and distribution infrastructure.
We will continue to work through these issues in the fourth quarter but our business fundamentals remain strong,” said Kim Yost, President and CEO.
For the balance of the year, and consistent with our first two quarters, management remains primarily focused on executing against its rebannering initiative associated with leveraging the strength of The Brick banner and driving incremental EBITDA. With the completion of the build out of our distribution infrastructure, our focus for the balance of the year now turns to driving past cost issues associated with our new distribution centre network built up through the past nine months. Beyond these two major strategic growth initiatives, management will continue to manage the build out of our Quebec market presence and brand recognition, and the growth of our franchise operations and financial services segment.
