La-Z-Boy posts $7.8 million loss

Takes big charge on companies designated for sale


MONROE, Mich. — La-Z-Boy posted a net loss of $7.8 million for the quarter ended Jan. 27 as its sales slid 9.6%.
The company, which announced plans Tuesday to sell its Sam Moore, Clayton Marcus and Pennsylvania House units, said much of the loss was attributable to those operations, as well as its company-owned stores, which incurred an operating loss of $6.7 million.
“The retail environment remains extremely difficult,” said Kurt Darrow, president and CEO. “But against that backdrop, we were pleased with our wholesale business performance.”
Total sales for the quarter were $403.9 million, compared with $446.6 million in the quarter ended Jan. 28, 2016.
The net loss, which equals 15 cents per share, included losses of $14.8 million related to the three companies that are marked for sale, mainly writing down the value of intangible assets. Taking out those numbers, La-Z-Boy would have had net income of $6.9 million or 13 cents per share for the quarter.
The net loss also was partially offset by $3.4 million the company received during the quarter in antidumping duties, paid by importers of Chinese-made wood bedroom furniture.
In the same quarter last year, La-Z-Boy had net income of $10.5 million or 20 cents per share.
In the most recent quarter, sales from its upholstery segment were off 11.8%, and case goods sales were off 14.6%.
Sales from company-owned stores were $61.1 million, compared with $57.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The company didn’t disclose comparable-store sales for its own stores, but said they were off 8.3% for the entire La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries chain in the fourth calendar quarter.