Maytag boosted sales in its home appliances segment by 24.7 percent in the fourth quarter, hitting $1.1 billion, up from $879.2 million in the year-ago period.
Fourth-quarter operating income for the segment, which includes floor care products along with majaps, rose 4 percent, to $92.1 million. This figure excludes special charges, and compares to $88.3 million in the same quarter in 2000. Including special charges, operating income in the fourth quarter was $84.2 million, compared with $68.6 million in the year-ago fourth quarter.
“In spite of the economic uncertainties, our focus on marketplace execution and cost management resulted in more substantial earnings performance improvement than we anticipated,” said Ralph F. Hake, chairman/CEO. “I believe we have turned the corner, but we know that there is significant work in front of us to recover to our previous performance levels.”
Looking at 2002, Hake said the outlook for home appliance markets is difficult to predict, but he is counting on growing the company through new product launches, marketplace execution and aggressive cost control.
For the year, home appliance sales rose 10.3 percent, to $4.1 billion, compared with $3.7 billion in 2000. Operating income, excluding special charges, decreased 33.2 percent for the 12 months, hitting $332.6 million, down from $497.8 million in 2000.
Overall Maytag sales climbed 22.7 percent in the fourth quarter, reaching $1.1 billion, compared with restated sales of $924.3 million for 2000. The 2001 fourth quarter consolidated sales figure includes $156.5 million in sales from Amana, which Maytag purchased in 2001.
Including special charges, overall fourth quarter operating income was $68.4 million, compared with $33.1 million in the year-ago three months. Including special charges, the net loss for the fourth quarter was $20.7 million, up from a $10.2 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2000.
For the full year, Maytag’s overall sales climbed 8.2 percent, to $4.3 billion, up from $4 billion. The 2001 figure includes $304.4 million in sales from Amana. Including special charges, operating income for the year was $289.2 million, compared with $439.7 million in 2000. Net income, including special charges, was $47.7 million for the 12 months, compared with $201 million in 2000.
