— Furniture Today,
LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec — Ready-to-assemble furniture producer Bestar said gross revenues fell 18.9% in the third

quarter to C$8.4 million, leading to a loss of C$498,000 or 4 Canadian cents per share.

In the comparable quarter last year, the company posted a loss of C$163,000 or 1 cent per share.

CEO Jacques Hetu said Bestar saw an increase in demand in its components business, but has had difficulty obtaining supplies of raw materials, which left the company with “critically low levels of finished products inventory.” That has affected deliveries and caused delays in the pursuit of new customers for the components business, he said.

“On the other hand, substantial additional production costs such as extra costs for particleboard, decreased production lots and the use of off-sized particleboard had a significant contribution to second and third-quarter losses,” Hetu said.

He added the company has insurance coverage to help defray some of those costs, and is discussing compensation with its insurance company.

For the nine months, Bestar reported gross revenue of C$23.5 million, a decline of 19.8% from the comparable 2012 period. The net loss was C$1.1 million, or 8 cents per share, compared with earnings of C$20,000 a year earlier.

The company said the Toronto Stock Exchange is reviewing Bestar’s eligibility for listing and has given the company 120 days to satisfy certain criteria. Specifically, it said the company had traded a total of ordinary shares valued at less than C$2 million for more than 30 consecutive days.

“The company intends to present a case in the coming months to delay that review,” said Hetu. “However, if that request is not accepted, the company is now looking into the possibility of listing its ordinary shares on the TSX Venture Exchange.”

He said the company meets the requirements to be listed as a Group 1 industry on that exchange.