Promotional upholstery source American Furniture's sales declined 15.7% in the first quarter to $30.3 million, parent company Compass Diversified Holdings reported in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
American posted an operating profit of $289,000 for the quarter, a turnaround from the first quarter of 2011, when it had a loss of $8 million due mainly to a $7.7 million impairment charge to goodwill and its trade name.
Stationary upholstery sales were down about $6.3 million from a year ago and motion product sales fell about $500,000, the company reported. But recliner sales were up $1.2 million as American supplied the product to one of its largest customers for a promotion in January and February, Compass said.
It attributed the decline in stationary and motion sales to a soft retail environment, increased competition in the promotional category, and the inability to ship certain products in the first quarter because of a delay in receiving fabric kits from
Compass, which owns companies in a variety of industries, said its total corporate sales were up 31.1% in the quarter to $232.4 million, and reported a net loss of $786,000 versus a loss of $7 million in the comparable 2011 quarter.