Kids vendor scorecard

To say that 2005 was a difficult year for publicly held suppliers serving the kids marketplace is something of an understatement.

Collective revenues for the seven suppliers on Kids Today's annual vendor scorecard were up 3%, but net profits dropped 19.3% and operating profits slid 2.1%.

Total sales for all the vendors were $4 billion, inching up from $3.9 billion a year ago, with net income falling from $105.1 million in 2004 to $84.8 million in 2005 and operating profits dropping from $231.4 million last year to $226.6 million in 2005.

Operating profits, calculated as sales minus cost of goods sold and selling, general and administrative expenses, fell at three of the seven companies. Among the hardest hit was Furniture Brands International, which saw its operating margin, slide from 6.4% in 2004 to 4.2% in 2005. The greatest operating margin was 17.9%, recorded by RC2.

The net income picture was nearly as murky. Just three companies managed an earnings improvement in 2005, measured against 2004 results. RC2's $19.2 million topped the list. Crown Crafts was second with $5.5 million, followed by Stanley Furniture with $2.4 million.

Despite less than impressive aggregate results, some of the individual companies managed to do well. RC2 punched up double-digit percentage gains in revenues and net income, 56.4% and 32.3%, respectively. Stanley Furniture and Crown Crafts also posted double-digit revenue gains. Only Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, recovering from the woes of its founder, joined RC2 in recording a two-digit percentage increase in net profits.

Kids Today's fifth annual vendor scorecard is based on the financial results of seven publicly traded companies with fiscal years ending between Nov. 26, 2005, and April 2, 2006.