Company in black for first time in six quarters

Larry Thomas — Furniture Today, January 28, 2017

BASSETT, Va. — Bassett Furniture Inds. reported a profit of $2.6 million in the quarter ended Nov. 28 as sales slid 3.5% from the same period a year earlier.

The quarterly black ink, which equals 22 cents per share, halted a string of five consecutive quarterly losses.

In the quarter ended Nov. 29, 2015, Bassett has a net loss of $37.8 million or $3.24 per share. That figure included one-time charges of more than $30 million.

The most recent quarter included a one-time tax benefit of $1.7 million, as well as $1.6 million from antidumping duties assessed on Chinese-made wood bedroom furniture.

Sales for the quarter, the final period of Bassett’s fiscal year, totaled $59.5 million. That compares with $61.7 million in the fourth quarter of the previous year.

“The company’s ongoing focus on expense reduction and working capital management began to bear fruit in the fourth quarter,” said Rob Spilman, president and CEO. “More importantly, perhaps, we produced $6.1 million of operating cash flow for the quarter. This marks the company’s third consecutive quarter generating positive operating cash.”

Sales for Bassett’s wholesale segment fell 12.7% in the quarter, while sales at company-owned Bassett Furniture Direct stores increased 21.4%. The retail increase was due largely to the acquisition of nine stores earlier in 2016.

The company ended the quarter with 36 corporate stores.

“Our corporate retail team continued to improve the operations of the company-owned stores,” Spilman said, noting that the group’s operating loss was reduced by 70% during the quarter.

For the fiscal year ended Nov. 28, companywide sales fell 19.2% to $232.7 million.

The company had a net loss of $22.7 million or $1.99 per share for the year. In the previous fiscal year, the loss totaled $40.4 million or $3.46 per share.

Source : www.furnituretoday.com