Dixie Group reports gross profit margin of 21.5% in 2018

The residential business soft surface product line of the company grew by 1.8 per cent in a flat industry. The hard surface sales tripled during this same time period, said the company in a press release. In the residential market in 2018, the group had their largest product launch ever. It launched over 150 new products for 2018, including 67 carpet styles and 86 hard surface designs.

The results in the commercial market were impacted by the restructuring the company has been undergoing since late 2017. Its commercial product sales for the year were down over 13.2 per cent while the commercial soft floor covering market was down marginally. The company expanded its product offering in luxury vinyl flooring with its sales doubling through its Calibrè line of luxury vinyl flooring products.

“2018 was a year of change for both Dixie and the industry. The industry dynamics have shifted as we have seen the soft floor covering market shrink in square feet while at the same time we saw the rapid rise of a new market segment with luxury vinyl flooring which has taken market share from all major flooring categories,” said Daniel K Frierson, chairman and chief executive officer, Dixie Group. “During this time, we have been shifting our emphasis to include hard surfaces products, primarily luxury vinyl flooring, in our product offering. Our residential business has continued to gain market share as we have expanded our footprint throughout the retail environment.

“Residentially our operational focus this past year has been on taking advantage of our increased productivity as we lower our labour and other input costs. Beginning in late 2017 when we brought our two commercial floor covering businesses under the leadership of David Hobbs, we have been methodically combining our operations, culminating with the complete integration of our management, support functions, sales forces and commercial facilities by the end of the first quarter of 2019. Commercially we have been driving our product offering towards solution dyed modular carpet tile while we reorganise the commercial business to bring it into sustained profitability.” (PC)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India