Fall River-based Quaker Fabric Corp., an upholstery manufacturer, announced last week net sales of $46.3 million, a net loss of $4.1 million, and diluted and basic losses per share of 25 cents for this year’s first quarter. Net sales of $59.2 million, a net loss of $3.1 million, and diluted and basic losses per share of 18 cents were reported for the corresponding period of fiscal 2005.
Quaker’s financial results for the first quarter of 2006 include after-tax restructuring and related charges of $500,000 and $100,000 of plant relocation expenses. Excluding these charges and expenses, net loss for the first fiscal quarter of 2006 was $3.5 million or 21 cents per diluted share.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
“Although our first-quarter performance is still a long way away from what we are determined to achieve over the long term, we are encouraged by the sequential improvement in our margins,” said Larry A. Liebenow, Quaker’s president and CEO. “Our biggest problem continues to be sales volume. Competition from imported leather, faux suede and woven fabric products remains intense and resulted in a 21.8 percent drop in our total revenues versus the comparable period of last year – with domestic and international net fabric sales for the quarter of $38.1 million and $6.6 million, down 17.6 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively. Net yarn sales, at $1.5 million, were down 73.1 percent.”
“We have an ongoing restructuring effort under way that is intended to restore the company to profitability,” continued Liebenow. “The key elements of our plan include: stabilizing revenues from our U.S.-based residential fabric business by focusing on those markets least sensitive to imported products; reducing our operating costs to compensate for the drop we have experienced in our revenues over the past few years; selling excess assets; developing strategically important commercial relationships with a limited number of carefully chosen offshore fabric mills so that we can recapture the share of the domestic residential market that we have lost over the past few years to foreign imports; and generating additional profitable sales by penetrating the outdoor and contract fabric markets and expanding our specialty yarns business.”
“We entered into purchase and sale agreements with respect to two of our idled Fall River area manufacturing facilities, with both of these deals expected to close by the end of July,” he added.
