WINCHESTER, VA - Cabinetry manufacturer American Woodmark (NASDAQ: AMWD) says net sales rose 19 percent to $128,418,000 with double-digit sales gains in each of its sales channels during the second quarter of fiscal year 2012.

While the improvement still generated a net loss of $2,976,000, it was far less than the $7,384,000 loss in the year prior quarter. Gross profit for the period, which ended Oct. 31, was 12.5 percent of net sales, up from 9.1 percent in the second quarter of the prior fiscal year.

American Woodmark says the improvement in gross profit margin "primarily reflected the beneficial impact of increased sales volume on direct labor and manufacturing overhead costs," but margins were hurt by higher material and fuel costs and more costly sales promotions.

American Woodmark's results last year were aided by proceeds from the sale of a closed plant and by a larger federal income tax refund. In 2009 American Woodmark moved to close plants in Berryville, Virginia, and Moorefield, West Virginia, and suspended operations in Tahlequah, Oklahoma plants.

American Woodmark manufactures and distributes kitchen cabinets and vanities for the remodeling and new home construction markets, sold through home centers, major builders and through a network of independent distributors. It operates 11 cabinetry manufacturing facilities and nine service centers across the U.S.

American Woodmark sold almost 75 percent of its production through The Home Depot and Lowe’s Companies.

After filing its earnings report, it was reported American Woodmark insurer St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance, sought a summary judgment in a $4.1 million lawsuit against a lumber manager in Hazard, KY. The suit, according to the Northern Virginia Daily, alleges in part that Herbert Hoskins and others steered sales at higher than market prices to a lumber company Hoskins owned.