HEILIG-MEYERS REPORTS HIGHER FOURTH QUARTER EARNINGS

Furniture World Magazine

Heilig - Meyers Company (NYSE:HMY), the Richmond-based home furnishings retailer, today announced revenues and earnings for the fourth quarter ended February 28, 1997. Net earnings were $10. 6 million compared to $3.0 million in the prior year. Earnings per share were $0.20 compared to $0.06 during the same period in the prior year. Total revenues for the quarter increased 40.6% to $478.2 million compared to $340.0 million for the quarter ended February 29, 1996 For the twelve months ended February 28, 1997, net earnings were $40.2 million compared to $41.5 million in the prior year. Earnings per share were $0.80 compared to $0.84 for the twelve months ended February 29, 1996. Revenues for the twelve months rose 17.2% to $1.6 billion from $ 1.4 billion in the prior year. Troy A. Peery, Jr., President and Chief Operating Officer, commented that management is very pleased with the results for the quarter. He noted that gross margins in the Heilig-Meyers stores were significantly better than in the same quarter of the prior year as a result of the Company's adherence to a disciplined promotional strategy. He also noted that results in the Company's Puerto Rican stores were better than anticipated. Mr. Peery further commented that due to these factors combined with the Company's continued emphasis on monitoring costs, consolidated earnings improved over 200% versus the same quarter in the prior year, despite a modest decline of 0 6% in comparable store sales. William C. DeRusha, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, noted that while the overall retail home furnishings sales environment showed little momentum during the quarter, trends in the core Heilig-Meyers business showed favorable improvement and management is optimistic about the upcoming fiscal year. He also commented that the Company is continuing to pursue growth opportunities. During the quarter the Company added 117 stores, including 105 associated with the merger of Rhodes, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia and 10 associated with the purchase of certain assets of The RoomStore, located in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Heilig-Meyers company's a Virginia corporation, currently operates 797 stores as Heilig-Meyers, 105 as Rhodes and 10 as The RoomStore. The Company also operates 32 Berrios retail furniture stores, all located in Puerto Rico.