— Furniture Today,
Sales hit C$8.9M

L’ISLET, Quebec — Metal furniture manufacturer Amisco Inds. said today its first-quarter earnings declined 73.8% from a year earlier as sales fell 11.9%.

The company said it earned C$103,067 in the quarter ended Feb. 25 on sales of C$8.9 million.

Sales in Canada decreased 15.6% to C$2.7 million, which the company attributed to a decline in orders from a few large customers. Amisco said U.S. sales fell 10.1%, mainly because of increasing weakness in the U.S. dollar.

Earnings per share came to 3 Canadian cents in the latest quarter, compared with 10 cents a year earlier.

 “Despite certain productivity gains, the company’s operating profitability in the first quarter of 2013 was adversely affected by the decline in business volume and the unfavorable U.S. dollar-Canadian dollar exchange rate,” said Réjean Poitras, chairman, president and CEO. “Until the end of 2012, Amisco indeed benefited from forward exchange contracts for all its U.S. sales. However, these favorable exchange contracts will gradually expire between now and 2015.

“Canadian furniture manufacturers are faced with fierce competitive pressures and the rise in the Canadian dollar in relation to the U.S. dollar,” he said at the company’s annual general meeting of shareholders this morning.

“To counter the negative impact of these macroeconomic factors, Amisco has quickly responded by intensifying the implementation of its mass personalization strategy.” Poitras said. “We thus plan to further increase our variety of products and to expand our distribution network in order to reach a larger number of consumers wishing to purchase and rapidly obtain furniture in finishes, colors, fabrics and dimensions tailored to their specific needs.”