CARTHAGE, Mo.-Second-quarter net income for Leggett & Platt jumped 19 percent to $64.9 million, in spite of a 1 percent slip in net sales.
Drops in key expense categories was the prime reason for the bottom line’s added health in the quarter. Thanks to a decrease of 1.5 percent in cost of goods sold, gross margin picked up 70 basis points to finish at 19.9 percent. Selling, general and administrative expenses shed 6 percent in dollars and 53 basis points as a percentage of sales, to 9.9 percent.
The decrease in sales brought the top-line total to $938.8 million in the quarter. Most of the decline occurred in Leggett & Platt’s commercial fixturing and components segment, whose sales slid 17 percent. Sales in the residential furnishings segment increased 2 percent, with a unit-volume increase of 3 percent partially offset by currency rate changes.
Based on these quarterly results, Leggett & Platt said it expects sales for all of 2012 to range between $3.65 billion and $3.8 billion.