Stanley Furniture sales plunge in 4th quarter, leading to $1.3M loss even as it cut costs

Stanley Furniture loses $1.3M in 4Q

STANLEYTOWN, Va. — Stanley Furniture Co. said Wednesday it lost $1.3 million in its fiscal fourth quarter as sales plunged and the company struggled to restructure and lower its costs.

The furniture maker’s loss for the final three months of 2009 amounted to 12 cents per share.

In the same period a year earlier, it earned $6.2 million, or 60 cents per share. Quarterly sales fell 21 percent to $40 million.

For the full year, Stanley posted a loss of $12 million, or $1.14 per share, compared with a profit of $3.7 million, or 36 cents per share, the previous year.

Annual revenue fell 29 percent to $160 million.

Glenn Prillaman, Stanley’s president and CEO, said Stanley has responded by consolidating warehouses, discontinuing items that weren’t selling well and cutting 25 percent of its salaried positions through early retirements and layoffs.

The moves resulted in pretax charges of $6.1 million in 2009.

Stanley’s shares fell 13 cents to close at $9.56 Wednesday before the report was released.