Leggett & Platt Q4 Furnishings Sales Up, Fixtures Down
Leggett & Platt Closing Production Facilities

Leggett & Platt Q4 Furnishings Sales Up, Fixtures DownCARTHAGE, MO -Residential furnishings and fixture maker Leggett & Platt's fourth quarter sales increased 5.2%, making it the strongest quarterly sales growth achieved during 2013, the company said.

Net sales for the quarter were $896.8 million, up from $850.1 million in the same quarter in the prior year. Of that, residential furnishings sales grew to $482.8 million, up 6.2& compared to the previous year quarter. Commercial fixturing and components, however, dropped 7.8% to $83.7 million.

For the full year, net sales grew slightly, to $3.75 billion, compared to $3.71 billion in 2012. The residential furnishings segment grew 3.3% to $1.97 billion. Offsetting that, the commercial fixturing and components segment dropped 5.5% to $456.2 million.

Commercial Fixturing & Components
83.7
90.8
(7.8%) - See more at: http://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood-market-trends/woodworking-indust…

"Though the economy held sales growth to a modest 1%, in 2013 our continuing operations set a new record for adjusted EPS, beating the record set last year," Board Chair and CEO David S. Haffner said in a statement. "We generated cash from operations well in excess of our dividend and capital requirements, as we've done for over 20 years. We completed two additional, small acquisitions to augment our new aerospace tubing business. And we repurchased 6 million of our shares, reducing share count by 2%."

He added, "For 2014, the economic outlook is a bit brighter than it has been for some time.  Forecasters are calling for a modestly better U.S. economy, though they note that headwinds still exist. With sales growth, we expect another year of record earnings from continuing operations. And as we look beyond 2014, we are encouraged by the positive direction several of our businesses are headed."

The company said 2014 sales are projected to be $3.85 - 4.05 billion, or 3% - 8% growth.

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