MONROE, Mich., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- La-Z-Boy
Incorporated (NYSE: LZB) President and CEO, Kurt L. Darrow, today commented on business
trends in anticipation of meeting with analysts and investors at
the BB&T Capital Markets investor conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, August 10, 2010.
Darrow stated, "Our results for the fiscal 2011 first quarter
were impacted negatively by a number of factors, including higher
raw material costs, supply chain disruptions and delays, Hurricane
Alex, which affected shipping from our Mexican-based cut-and-sew
operations and inefficiencies at the Mexico facility as we complete the transition
of all custom cut-and-sewn product from our U.S. operations.
In addition to seasonality playing a role in terms of overall
volume levels during the quarter, the storm in Mexico washed out roads, delaying the
transport of cut-and-sewn kits to our U.S.-based facilities. As a
result of the supply chain disruptions and delays, our U.S. plants
did not run as planned during July and we were required to move
approximately $10 million of orders
from production in July into August. Accordingly, we
anticipate reporting relatively flat to slightly increased sales
for the first quarter of fiscal 2011 and earnings per share in a
break-even range."
Darrow continued, "Together, those factors prevented us from
achieving previous operating efficiency levels during the first
quarter of fiscal 2011. For the previous five quarters, we
have demonstrated solid and consistent performance in our
upholstery segment, reflecting the various lean initiatives and
cellular production processes instituted throughout our operations.
We believe many of the issues that reduced our first-quarter
production levels are behind us. Raw material pricing has
been on the decline from its peak in the May-through-June period,
supply chain disruptions are being minimized and our Mexico facility is improving its efficiencies.
Importantly, the issues faced during the quarter are not
systemic to our business and historically our first quarter is not
indicative of our performance for the remainder of the year.
As an example, in last year's first quarter, we earned
$0.04 per share and earned
$0.62 for the full year."
La-Z-Boy Incorporated will announce its fiscal 2011
first-quarter results on Tuesday, August 17,
2010, with a conference call scheduled for Wednesday, August 18, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. eastern time. Details of the call
will be issued the week prior to the results announcement.
Forward-looking Information
This news release contains, and oral statements made from time
to time by representatives of La-Z-Boy may contain,
"forward-looking statements." With respect to all forward-looking
statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for
forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ
materially from those we anticipate or project due to a number of
factors, including: (a) changes in consumer confidence and
demographics; (b) continued economic recession; (c) changes in the
real estate and credit markets and their effects on our customers
and suppliers; (d) international political unrest, terrorism or
war; (e) continued energy and other commodity price changes; (f)
the impact of logistics on imports; (g) interest rate and currency
exchange rate changes; (h) operating factors, such as supply, labor
or distribution disruptions, product recalls or costs; (i)
restructuring actions; (j) changes in the domestic or international
regulatory environment; (k) adopting new accounting principles; (l)
severe weather or other natural events such as hurricanes,
earthquakes and tornadoes; (m) our ability to procure fabric rolls
and leather hides or cut and sewn fabric and leather sets
domestically or abroad; (n) fluctuations in our stock price; (o)
information technology system failures; and (p) the matters
discussed in Item 1A of our fiscal 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K
and other factors identified from time-to-time in our reports filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no
obligation to, and expressly disclaim any such obligation to,
update, alter or revise any forward-looking statements, whether to
reflect new information, new developments or for any other
reason.
Additional Information
This news release is just one part of La-Z-Boy's financial
disclosures and should be read in conjunction with other
information filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
which is available at:
http://www.la-z-boy.com/About/Investor-Relations/Sec-Filings/.
Investors and others wishing to be notified of future
La-Z-Boy news releases, SEC filings and quarterly investor
conference calls may sign up at:
http://www.la-z-boy.com/About/Investor-Relations/Email-Alerts/
Background Information
La-Z-Boy Incorporated is one of the world's leading residential
furniture producers, marketing furniture for every room of the
home. The La-Z-Boy Upholstery Group companies are Bauhaus,
England and La-Z-Boy. The
operating units in the Casegoods Group consist of two groups, one
including American Drew, Lea and Hammary, and the second being
Kincaid.
The corporation's proprietary distribution network is dedicated
exclusively to selling La-Z-Boy Incorporated products and brands,
and includes 306 stand-alone La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries® stores
and 510 independent Comfort Studios®, in addition to in-store
gallery programs for the company's Kincaid, England and Lea operating units. Additional
information is available at http://www.la-z-boy.com/.
SOURCE La-Z-Boy Incorporated
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