LEXINGTON, Ky.-In an unprecedented statement regarding its financial performance, Tempur-Pedic said it expects second-quarter sales to come in at 3 to 5 percent less than sales in last year’s second quarter.
The company said this projection came from the expectation that North American sales will drop 8 percent in the quarter. Based on the predicted sales declines and a resulting increase in expenses as a percentage of sales, Tempur-Pedic said it expects earnings per share to fall 50 percent in the quarter.
CEO Mark Sarvary said the “disappointing” North American sales results came about “primarily due to changes in the competitive environment, including an unprecedented number of new competitive product introductions which have been supported by aggressive marketing and promotion.” International sales continue to perform well, said Dale Williams, chief financial officer.
The company’s projection for sales for the fiscal year as a whole are $1.43 billion, which would be slightly ahead of the record $1.42 billion in sales posted for last year. Nevertheless, Sarvary said, Tempur-Pedic is “taking actions to realign our expense structure appropriately.”