Haverty Furniture Reports Sales for First Quarter

Furniture World News

Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. reported sales activity for the month and quarter ended March 31, 2002. Havertys' sales for the first quarter of 2002 increased 4.4% to $175.0 million compared with $167.6 million in 2001. On a comparable-store basis, sales increased 3.4% for the first quarter. Sales for March increased 2.0% to $58.8 million compared with $57.7 million for March 2001. On a comparable-store basis, March sales increased 0.7%. Comparable-store sales do not include two expanded stores nor locations opened, closed or otherwise non-comparable during the last 12 months. John E. Slater, Jr., President & CEO said, "March sales were softer than expected coming in about 3% below our internal plan. We do have a modestly higher backlog of orders to deliver as compared to this time last year. This backlog is due in part to the industry's better than expected demand throughout the first quarter causing some suppliers to fall behind on shipments. In addition, some revenues were shifted to April because of the fewer delivery days in March as compared to last year. "Even with sales lower than anticipated, earnings appear to be above plan as we have experienced lower than expected SG&A expenses along with continued strong gross margins. Expenses during the quarter associated with our changes in distribution and store expansion were in line with our estimates. We are therefore adjusting our first quarter earnings guidance upward slightly to arange of $0.28 to $0.30 per diluted share. We remain optimistic about business trends in the second quarter," Slater concluded. Havertys is a full-service home furnishings retailer with 104 showrooms in 14 southern and central states providing its customers with a wide selection of quality merchandise in middle- to upper-middle price ranges. Additional information is available on the Company's website at http://www.havertys.com.