Carpet maker Interface sales up 3% in 2013

20 Feb '14

2 min read

Interface, Inc., a worldwide carpet tile company and global leader in sustainability, announced results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 29, 2013.

"We had a reasonably good finish to the year, as our expectations for fourth quarter growth were somewhat tempered by the softened order level we saw for a few weeks in the previous quarter," said Daniel T. Hendrix, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.

"The most encouraging sign of the fourth quarter was the continued progress within our European business, where we were pleased to see our primary markets continue to recover and our sales comparison turn positive for the first time in two years. Our Americas business continued its gradual but steady growth in the fourth quarter, gaining additional share in a U.S. commercial market that has yet to see a true rebound.

In Asia-Pacific, sales declined primarily as a result of the lingering effects of last year's plant fire in Australia, but we also reached a final settlement with our insurance company regarding the fire claim, resulting in a gain during the fourth quarter. We also commenced operations at our new manufacturing facility located near Sydney, Australia during the first week of January, which should improve service levels in the region going forward."

Fourth Quarter 2013 Financial Summary & Highlights

Sales for the fourth quarter of 2013 were $251.7 million, a slight uptick from sales of $249.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Sales in our Americas business increased 3.1% year over year. Most of the growth occurred in the residential market segment (up 55%), primarily within with our FLOR consumer business. FLOR sales were up 25% versus the fourth quarter last year, due primarily to the larger FLOR store footprint and increased web traffic, with same store sales up 44% year over year.

The corporate office segment continued its gradual recovery (up 3%) and all other non-office segments were about even year over year, with the exception of the education segment (down 9%).

Our Europe division continued its steady improvement, with sales essentially pulling even with the prior year period in local currency and up 4% as reported in U.S. dollars.

Sales in the Asia-Pacific region were down 13%, due to a combination of macroeconomic conditions, currency impacts, and the lingering effects of the 2012 fire at the plant in Australia.

Click here to view full results.

Interface

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