Dixie Reports Higher Sales, Income for Quarter

Chattanooga, TN, April 30, 2014 -- The Dixie Group reported first quarter net income of $3.26 million, up from $636,000 a year ago.

The carpet maker said net sales for the quarter were $85.3 million, up from $75.4 million in the first quarter last year.

“The first quarter was a difficult quarter operationally, both due to external events as well as our internal operations not performing up to expectations," said CEO Daniel Frierson.

"The January and February period stood in contrast to the months of March and April. Our order entry for carpet products for January and February were up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis while for March and April, excluding Atlas, our order entry was up 17.0% as compared to the prior year. Likewise, our carpet product sales for the January and February period were up 8.8% while our sales for the March and April period, excluding Atlas, were up 12.7% relative to the prior year. Our sales rate in the March and April period was more in line with our expectations, and therefore our cost structure."

The slow startup of its Colormaster dye line, combined with severe winter weather, hurt results, the company said.

Dixie said its residential sales for the first quarter were up 9.4% over last year, and its commercial sales were up 18.0%, which were both ahead of the market, the company said.