(By Balaseshan) Bassett Furniture Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: BSET), a manufacturer of mid-priced home furnishings, reported a jump in quarterly earnings on tax benefit as well as higher sales from its wholesale and retail segments.
Earnings for the fourth quarter were $16.9 million or $1.55 per share, higher than last year's $633,000 or $0.06 per share.
The latest quarter results included a net tax benefit of $14.2 million, which was primarily due to a $16.0 million reduction of certain valuation reserves against the company's deferred tax assets.
Net sales jumped 21% to $76.8 million, on strong performance from its wholesale and retail segments. Company-owned store delivered sales grew 24%.
Sales from the wholesale segment increased 18% to $51.8 million. Shipments grew due to a 38% growth in wholesale sales outside the BHF store network and an 11% increase in shipments to the BHF store network.
Retail segment sales climbed 24% to $48.8 million, comprised of a 15% growth in comparable store sales along with a $3.5 million rise in non-comparable store sales. Written sales for comparable stores increased by 14%.
Operating income rose to $2.5 million from $1.1 million, primarily on higher sales in both the wholesale and retail segments. This was offset by higher selling, general and administrative expenses.
Looking ahead into the full-year 2013, the company plans to leverage marketing costs better with growth generated from five to seven new Bassett stores, continued gains in open market sales, and increased revenues from the full rollout of the HGTV partnership. The company expects to open five to seven new stores and repositioning two others into better retail locations.
BSET is trading up 6.32% at $13.28 on Thursday. The stock has been trading between $7.55 and $13.54 for the past 52 weeks.