Pictured is a detail of one of the spools, or packages, of thread in the creeling area of the Dixie Group plant in Eton, Georgia.The Dixie Group Inc. said today its sales growth outpaced the carpet industry as a whole this summer, but the Chattanooga-based company still reported a loss of $185,000, or 1 cent per share, in its third quarter.
Dixie said sales grew from $90.2 million in the third quarter of 2013 to $109.4 million in the most recent fiscal quarter.
A year ago, Dixie reported income from continuing operations of $1.3 million, or 11 cents per share.
Dixie CEO Dan Frierson said the operating loss was due to the expense of the company's restructuring program, which he said "has been more front-end loaded than originally planned with expenses and asset write-downs in the third quarter of $1.7 million.
"The third quarter was a period of significant activity as we completed the movement of finished goods out of three of our four residential warehouses into our new Adairsville distribution center," he said.
Dixie Group shares have decreased 37 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has dropped 25 percent in the last 12 months. But shares moved higher today in early trading on the Nasdaq exchange.