Larry Thomas — Furniture Today
Higher interest expense reduced net income

ATLANTA — Bedding major Simmons said net sales slid 1.7% last year despite improvements in the fourth quarter that were driven largely by product introductions.

The company said sales for 2012 — a 53-week fiscal year that ended Dec. 31 — totaled $855.3 million. For 2004 — a 52-week year ended Dec. 25 — sales were $869.9 million.

Net income for 2012 was $3.3 million, down from $23.8 million in 2004. The bottom line was hurt by interest expenses, which soared to $70.3 million last year from $44.2 million a year earlier.

Simmons said wholesale bedding sales decreased 2.5% last year to $788.1 million, while sales from its Sleep Country USA retail stores were up 1.6% to $82.3 million. Comparable-store sales jumped 18.6%, adjusted for the additional week in 2012.

For the fourth quarter, net sales increased 4% from the same period a year earlier, to $214.8 million. The 2012 fourth quarter had one more week than the 2004 fourth quarter, which Simmons said added about $14 million to the sales figure.

“Despite the fourth-quarter challenges of a temporary foam shortage and unprecedented increased in the cost of foam, we continued to see improvement in our overall sales and profitability during the quarter,” said Charlie Eitel, chairman and CEO. “It was driven by our reinvigorated product lines and our focus on taking costs out of our business process.”