Quaker loses $37.6M in ’06

FALL RIVER – Quaker Fabric Corp. last week reported a 2006 net loss of $37.6 million, or $2.23 per share, with the bulk of the loss attributed to $26.5 million worth of one-time restructuring and asset impairment charges.
By comparison, the company’s 2005 net loss was $26.3 million, or $1.56 per share, which included restructuring, asset and goodwill impairment charges of $16.6 million.
In a news release, President and CEO Larry A. Liebenow said Quaker believes “much of our consolidation effort and the related asset impairment charges are now behind us,” and the focus in 2007 will be “on rebuilding our sales line and aligning our costs with our sales expectations.”
Last January, Quaker formed a strategic alliance with Hangzhou Zhongwang Fabric Products Co. Ltd. in China to make upholstery fabric. Liebenow said the facility is “on its way to becoming the strong and effective outsourcing arrangement we had hoped it would be, with the products we have designed for production at their plant in China achieving widespread market acceptance.”
“We are also continuing to build demand for fabrics slated for production in our Fall River manufacturing plants,” he added, “including the new products we have developed for the contract, jobber, outdoor and residential markets.”
Quaker reported net sales of $151.7 million, down from $224.7 million in 2005.