Ethan Allen Sales Up 21% in Second Quarter

Ethan Allen reported a $14.7 million profit in the quarter ended Dec. 31 from a loss a year earlier as sales rose 21% to $173.3 million, the manufacturer and retailer reported.

The company’s profit in the quarter, the second of its fiscal year, compared with a loss of $3.3 million in the same period a year ago. On a per-share basis, the profit in the recent quarter was 51 cents and the loss a year earlier was 12 cents.

Excluding one-time items, Ethan Allen said it had a profit of $5.6 million or 19 cents per share in the latest quarter, compared with a loss of $1.6 million or 6 cents per share a year earlier.

“With a sales increase of 21% and operating income of $10.5 million, we have benefited from the many initiatives we have taken to improve our marketing and operations,” said Farooq Kathwari, chairman, president and CEO. “We also continue to maintain strong liquidity, ending the quarter with cash and securities of $85.6 million. Fiscal year to date, we have retired $6.9 million of our bonds and repurchased $5.4 million of our common stock. Later this year, we also expect to receive a federal tax refund of approximately $17 million.”

In the company’s retail division, sales of $131 million were up 22.3%. Written orders booked during the quarter were up 5.7%, including a same-store gain of 10.7%.

For the six months ended Dec. 31, sales of $338.2 million were up 21%, and net income of $18.6 million or 64 cents per share reversed a loss of $16.9 million or 58 cents per share a year earlier. Excluding special items, earnings in the latest period were 30 cents per share and the loss a year earlier was 25 cents per share.

“The ‘Great Recession’ has afforded us an opportunity to reinvent and restructure many aspects of our vertically integrated enterprise,” Kathwari said. “While the economic recovery is still in the early stages, we remain cautiously optimistic and continue to take steps to grow our business. In our third quarter ending March 31 … we plan to invest to increase our direct mail advertising by approximately 50% over the prior year.”