Michael J. Knell — Furniture Today,
\nCompany improves gross margins despite limited sales growth<\/p>\n
MONTREAL \u00e2\u20ac\u201d An increasingly competitive Quebec marketplace resulted in flat fourth-quarter revenues and a 12.6% drop in net earnings for BMTC Group, the largest full-line furniture retailer in the province.<\/p>\n
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In the quarter, the company recorded revenues of C$212.6 million, virtually the same as in the comparable 2004 quarter. Net earning were C$8.6 million, or 26 cents per share, compared with C$9.8 million, or 28 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter.<\/p>\n
For the year, revenues rose 2% to C$818.8 million, and net earnings came to C$41.9 million, or $1.20 per share, down 5.8% from 2004\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s C$44.5 million, or C$1.21 per share.
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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The fourth quarter is typically the strongest for electronic products, and the company had anticipated lower sales for that commodity as a result of a new competitor entering the market,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Chairman, President and CEO Yves Des Groseillers. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This was offset by stronger results in appliances and furniture.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
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\nU.S. electronics giant Best Buy entered the Quebec market at mid-year with several stores in metro Montreal. Fourth-quarter earnings were hurt by the cost of options for a retiring board member, which cut earnings per share seven cents.<\/p>\n
Des Groseillers said sales in the Quebec City region were up 10% for the year but were mixed in Montreal \u00e2\u20ac\u201d weak in the first quarter and choppy the rest of the year. The 2% sales growth for 2012 was a same-store increase since no stores were added in 2012. In November, BMTC replaced a store in Rimouski.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Despite limited sales growth, the company managed to improve gross margins and reduce expenses,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n
Earnings were eroded by the costs of stock-option compensation and a share redemption program. Without these expenses, earnings per share would have risen seven cents for the year, the company said.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
While management remains positive about 2013, Des Groseillers said the rate of growth will slow thanks to a maturing housing market and increased competition.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The past few years have seen much change in the Quebec market \u00e2\u20ac\u201d rapid expansion, the arrival of several new competitors and a wave of consolidation,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The company has managed to \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 retain its pre-eminent position in the marketplace.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Management feels strongly that the key to this success has been, and will remain, its determined and aggressive advertising and marketing campaign.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
BMTC operates 20 stores under the Brault et Martineau and Ameublements Tanguay banners, and distribution and administration centers in Montreal and Quebec City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Michael J. Knell — Furniture Today, Company improves gross margins despite limited sales growth MONTREAL \u00e2\u20ac\u201d An increasingly competitive Quebec marketplace resulted in flat fourth-quarter revenues and a 12.6% drop in net earnings for BMTC Group, the largest full-line furniture retailer in the province. In the quarter, the company recorded revenues of C$212.6 million, virtually […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-furniture-world-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}