O'Sullivan Sales And Profits Slip In Fiscal 1st Qtr.

Staff On Dec 4 2000 - 8:00am

LAMAR, MO. -Ready-to-assemble furniture maker O'Sullivan Industries Holdings Inc. reported lower sales and earnings for its fiscal first quarter.

Blaming a previously mentioned sales drop on the slowdown in general economic activity created by the higher-interest-rate environment and increased fuel prices, O'Sullivan reported $90.5 million in net sales for the three months, an 11.3 percent drop, compared to the $102 million in the year-ago fiscal first quarter. The company recorded a net loss of $2.4 million for the three months, compared to a $5.2 million profit in the same three months last year.

O'Sullivan said sales were also reduced by the inventory reductions undertaken by some of its larger customers. "Given the decrease in sales for this quarter, we expect our sales for the remainder of the year to be flat, compared to the prior year," said Richard D. Davidson, president/CEO.

"With the slowdown in sales, we believe that we can reduce our investment in inventory by about $5 million over the next few quarters, while still providing excellent customer service to our retail partners," said Davidson.

O'Sullivan said its gross margin figure for the quarter dropped 230 basis points to 26.9 percent, from 29.2 percent.