The head of the world’s biggest floorcovering company said Wednesday he is “highly optimistic” that rising home starts this year will provide a belated boost to the carpet industry.
In a television interview from Chattanooga, Mohawk Industries CEO Jeffrey Lorberbaum said the floorcovering industry is finally benefiting from the improving economy.
“It really is surprising,” Lorberbaum said. “Typically, we’re a leading indicator of what happens as you come out of recession. In this one, we’ve been the tail of it because we think that housing prices are depressed.”
Shares of Mohawk have been anything but depressed, however. Shares in the Calhoun, Ga.-based company rose Wednesday to another all-time high. Mohawk gained $2.38 per share, or 1.3 percent, to close at $185.89 — up 19 percent so far this year and nearly 33 percent above Mohawk’s year-ago stock price.
Since the company went public in 1992 with about $300 million in sales, Mohawk has grown more than 30-fold through 30 acquisitions, including its pending $1.2 billion purchase of the Belgium-based IVC Group.