Bassett Furniture reports Q1 EPS (14c) vs. 16c last year

Reports Q1 revenue $86.6M vs. $107.7M last year. “As we once again compared to the inflated sales of the pandemic period, our consolidated sales dropped by 19.6% in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023. We do expect easier comparisons starting with our second quarter of 2024. Wholesale and retail orders were more stable and fell by 6.3% and 3.4%, respectively. The final two weeks of January proved to be especially damaging to written sales during the period as we lost the historically strong MLK holiday event due to storms across several regions of the country where we expect to write good business. We produced an operating loss of $2.4 million and a net loss of $1.2 million in the challenging sales environment. Our consolidated gross margin of 55.3% was an all-time high but spending reductions were not enough to generate profitability at the reported level of sales. We continue to explore expense reduction strategies that will not be detrimental to gaining market share in the competitive furniture industry landscape. Inventory levels are stable and are appropriate for the current pace of business. Total headcount in our wholesale segment has been reduced by 26% since the peak of the pandemic booms in 2022. The corporate retail organization is 44% leaner than February 2020, the last month before the world changed. And the balance sheet is well built and provides stability as we focus on improving results in anticipation of a better macro-economic environment in the future.” Robert H. Spilman, Jr., Chairman and CEO