Kids vendor scorecard
By Janice Chamberlain -- Kids Today, 10/1/2005
High Point— Collective results for the eight suppliers on the Kids Today annual vendor scorecard weren't pretty. Overall, sales increased just 0.4%, operating profits plummeted 22% and the group posted an aggregate net loss of $45 million.
Total sales for all the vendors were $5.5 billion, virtually even with 2003 revenues. Net profits a year ago were $22.8 million. Operating profits in 2004 were $294.5 million and $377.7 million in 2003.
While aggregate results were not impressive, some of the individual companies managed to do well. RC2 posted a sales increase of $70.5 million to finish 2004 with revenues of $381.4 million, Stanley Furniture added $40.6 million to its sales coffers to finish the year at $305.8 million, and Furniture Brands International increased annual sales by $13.3 million and had total 2004 sales of $2.4 billion.
RC2 posted the largest percentage growth in sales — 22.7%. Stanley was next up, with a 15.3% increase in sales.
Operating profits reached $204.7 million at Furniture Brands, the high mark for scorecard companies. RC2 was a distant second, with operating income of $61.7 million. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, still apparently affected by the troubles of its founder, posted the only operating loss — $43.8 million — of the companies on the scorecard. For the media company, cost of goods sold represents production, distribution and editorial costs.
Calculating operating profits as sales minus cost of goods sold and selling, general and administrative expenses, five of the nine companies on the scorecard posted percentage increases in operating income. Bassett Furniture recorded the largest gain — 97.8%. Trailing Bassett was Stanley, up 32.3% and Chromcraft Revington, up 15.5%.
The net profit picture was particularly disappointing, as only one company — Stanley — managed a percentage gain. Stanley profits surged 37.2% to $20.8 million in 2004, compared with $15.2 million in 2003.
Despite the lack of percentage profit gains, six of the eight scorecard companies were in the black in 2004.
Only WestPoint Stevens and Martha Stewart Living reported net losses for 2004, $105 million and $59.6 million, respectively.
The clear victor in return-on-equity (net income divided by shareholder equity) was Stanley's 16.3%. Chromcraft Revington's 12.2% came in second, followed by the 11.7% posted by Crown Crafts.
While none of the companies reported double-digit growth in return-on-sales (net income divided by sales), RC2 led the way with 8.9%. Right behind RC2 was Stanley, which recorded ROS of 6.8%, and Chromcraft Revington, which scored 4.4% in ROS.
The gross margin champ was also RC2, with a gross margin percentage score of 49.3%. Martha Stewart Living was next with 38%, leaving third-place honors to Furniture Brands' 27.2%.
Kids Today's fourth annual vendor scorecard is based on the financial results of eight publicly traded companies with fiscal years ending between Nov. 27, 2004, and April 3, 2005.
| 2004 | 2003 | % Change | |
| Sales | $5,512,746.7 | $5,489,700.7 | 0.4% |
| Operating income | $294,516.9 | $377,743.8 | -22.0% |
| Net income | $(44,996.8) | $22,831.3 | — |
| $millions | Change |
| RC2 | $70.5 |
| Stanley Furniture | 40.6 |
| Furniture Brands International | 13.3 |
| $millions | Change |
| Crown Crafts | ($83.8) |
| Chromcraft Revington | (176.6) |
| Stanley Furniture | (244.5) |
| $millions | Change |
| Furniture Brands International | $287.4 |
| RC2 | 166.6 |
| Stanley Furniture | 18.2 |
| $millions | Change |
| Crown Crafts | $76.0 |
| RC2 | 28.1 |
| Stanley Furniture | 1.2 |
| Year ended | Net income ($thousands) 2004 | Percentage change | Return on sales | Return on equity | Net sales ($thousands) 2004 | Percentage change | Gross margin percentage | Inventory turns | |||
| '03–'04 | '00–'04 | '03–'04 | '00–'04 | ||||||||
| Furniture Brands International | 12/31/2004 | $91,567 | -3.2% | -13.5%1 | 3.7% | 9.6% | $2,447,430 | 0.5% | 13.3% | 27.2% | 4.1x |
| WestPoint Stevens2 | 12/31/2004 | (150,047)3 | —3 | —4 | -9.3 | — | 1,618,684 | -1.7 | -10.9 | 13.8 | 4.1 |
| RC2 | 12/31/2004 | 33,978 | -11.6 | 476.9 | 8.9 | 9.8 | 381,425 | 22.7 | 77.6 | 49.3 | 4.2 |
| Bassett Furniture | 11/27/2004 | 8,2095 | —6 | -18.27 | 2.6 | 3.7 | 315,654 | -0.4 | -14.1 | 25.7 | 5.6 |
| Stanley Furniture | 12/31/2004 | 20,789 | 37.2 | 6.4 | 6.8 | 16.3 | 305,815 | 15.3 | 6.3 | 24.7 | 3.6 |
| Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia | 12/31/2004 | (59,599)8 | —8 | —8 | -31.8 | -31.8 | 187,438 | -23.8 | -33.6 | 38.0 | 18.3 |
| Chromcraft Revington | 12/31/2004 | 7,668 | -5.2 | -50.4 | 4.4 | 12.2 | 172,393 | -6.4 | -36.3 | 22.9 | 4.1 |
| Crown Crafts | 4/3/2005 | 2,438 | -22.19 | -103.310 | 2.9 | 11.7 | 83,908 | -2.7 | -66.1 | 20.3 | 5.0 |
| 1. Includes a $2.5 million extraordinary charge for the early extinguishment of debt. 2. Figures are from unaudited numbers from the company's 8K document filed with the SEC. 3. Includes pretax restructuring and asset impairment charges of $52.5 million in 2004 and $49.6 million in 2003, pretax charges for Chapter 11 expense of $34.6 million in 2004 and $31.5 million in 2003 and income tax benefits of $17.1 million in 2004 and $61.3 million in 2003. 2004 also includes a $7.9 million pretax fixed asset impairment charge. The net loss in 2003 was $133.3 million. 4. Includes a $109.2 million pretax restructuring and asset impairment charge and a $35.4 million income tax benefit. The net loss in 2000 was $63.3 million. 5. Includes a $4.1 million pretax restructuring and asset impairment charge, $7.1 million in net income from investments and a $3.9 million pretax gain on the sale of property. The 2003 net loss was $470,000. 6. Includes a $3.2 million pretax restructuring and asset impairment charge, $5.5 million in net income from investments and a $4.9 million extraordinary charge, the cumulative effect of an accounting change. 7. Includes a $6.7 million pretax restructuring and asset impairment charge, $10.2 million in net income of affiliated companies, a $175,000 net gain on the sales of property and equipment and a $364,000 extraordinary charge, the cumulative effect of an accounting change. 8. Includes net losses from discontinued operations of $526,000 in 2004 and $848,000 in 2003. 2003 also includes a $3 million income tax benefit. The net loss in 2003 was $2.8 million. Net income in 2000 was $21.3 million. 9. Includes a $25,000 foreign currency translation gain. 10. Includes a $28.2 million asset impairment provision, a $6.5 million pretax loss on the disposition of assets, a $23,000 income tax benefit and a $1,000 foreign currency translation gain. |
|||||||||||
|
