Dixie Narrows Loss on Surge in Sales

Chattanooga, TN, Nov. 4, 2011 -- The Dixie Group reported a third quarter net loss of $43,000, compared to a net loss of $1.9 million in the same quarter last year.

Dixie also reported net sales of $69.6 million, compared to $56.6 million a year ago, an increase of 22.8%.

Dixie reported no earnings per share in the quarter, compared to a loss of $0.15 in 2010.

“Dixie had strong growth in the quarter with nearly 23% improvement in sales compared to very modest growth for the industry," said CEO Dan Frierson.

"Our residential product sales grew 26% above the same period in 2010. This increase is in contrast with what we believe is a sales decline for the residential market. The residential carpet market, in general, has still not recovered from the recession; however, it is notably stronger at the high end than the broader market. Our commercial products had growth of 14%, which we believe is above the industry growth rate. Notable was growth in the modular carpet tile sector, which continues to exceed that of the broadloom product category in commercial products for both Dixie and the industry."

The company said it has seven consecutive quarters of sales growth in excess of the industry.

"we believe that continued emphasis on new product introductions is the correct strategy to enhance our position within the high end of the market," Frierson said.

He said the Masland and Fabrica brands had double digit growth in the third quarter relative to the same period last year.

“We continue to shift more resources into new product introductions serving the upper-end segments of the market as we believe that those segments will continue to rebound faster than the more moderate price points," Frierson said.

Because the fourth quarter of 2010 was significantly stronger than the earlier portion of that year, primarily due to sales growth in the mass merchant channel, Dixie does not expect to continue such significant year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter

Related Topics:Masland Carpets & Rugs, The Dixie Group