Ethan Allen Reports Small Drop in Sames Store Sales

Furniture World Magazine

Furniture retailer Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. reported that its fiscal second quarter profit dropped 10 percent due to a rise in operating expenses and a slight dip in sales at stores open at least a year. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, net income fell to $20.6 million, or 70 cents per share, from $22.8 million, or 70 cents per share in the prior year quarter. Per-share results for the latest quarter were based on about 3 million fewer shares outstanding. Earnings were hurt by a 9 percent jump in operating expenses and the absence of a restructuring and impairment credit of $314,000 that helped boost slightly the bottom line in the year-ago period. Revenue rose just under 1 percent to $259.5 million from $257.4 million in the second quarter of 2007. Sales at retail stores rose 9 percent while sales at wholesale locations fell 6 percent. Ethan Allen design center same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, dipped 0.6 percent. Same-store sales is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing locations rather than newly-opened ones.