Despite a dip in sales of residential carpets, the Dixie Group, Inc. said today it boosted sales in the second quarter by 1.9 percent over a year ago and earned $516,000, or 3 cents per share, from continuing operations.
Profits were up from a year ago when Dixie lost $509,000, or 4 cents per share, in the second quarter of 2014. But the latest earnings released today fell a penny shy of the 4 cents-per-share estimate for the second quarter among most of the analysts who follow the Chattanooga-based carpet maker.
Dixie said sales in the three months ended June 30 totaled nearly $110 million, up from $107.9 million in the same period a year ago, even though residential carpet sales were down this spring.
"Sales in the second quarter started off strong but moderated throughout the period," Dixie CEO Dan Frierson said today. "Sales for residential products declined 0.4 percent compared to the same quarter in the prior year, while the industry was down mid to low single digits. Sales of residential products started stronger in April but slowed down during the quarter relative to our performance a year ago."
Frierson said he expects the residential remodeling market to have "marginal growth for the remainder of the year"
Commercial carpet sales in the second quarter were up 6.7 percent over a year ago for Dixie, which also were better than the industry as a whole.
"We continue to see a healthy commercial market throughout 2015," Frierson said.
The Dixie Group also announced today it plans to consolidate three of its corporate and divisional offices into a single facility in Dalton, Ga. The consolidation is estimated to incur a one-time cost of $716,000, but the company said it will cut costs and improve training and corporate processes over time.