TRINITY, N.C.-Despite a 2.9 percent drop in sales, Sealy posted net income for its fiscal second quarter of $1.7 million, compared to a net loss of $377,000 from last year’s second quarter.
Net sales for the quarter, which ended on May 27, totaled $312 million. Much of the sales decline took place in the United States, where sales fell 5.2 percent. On the plus side, average selling price in the quarter rose 5.4 percent, driven by increases in all of the innerspring mattress lines and the introduction of the Next Generation Stearns & Foster line.
The higher price mix, along with advances in manufacturing processes and reduced product launch costs, helped bolster gross margin by 178 basis points, to 40.7 percent. Selling, general and administrative expenses, although tacking on 69 basis points as a percentage of sales, were slimmed down 0.8 percent in dollars.
Larry Rogers, Sealy’s president and CEO, cited the Next Generation Stearns & Foster rollout and “our strategic commitment to driving profitable sales” as key factors in the company’s “solid financial and operational performance.”