MONROE, MI — Residential furniture giant La-Z-Boy Inc. reported  net sales for the fiscal 2011 first quarter of $263.3 million were flat compared with the prior year’s first quarter. A 2.7% increase in sales in the casegoods segment, to $36.8 million, and an increase in the operating margin to 4.3%, an improvement from the year-ago level of (0.3%), helped offset declines in retail sales and the upholstery segment’s operating margin.

According to Kurt L. Darrow, president and CEO of La-Z-Boy, “Our results for the quarter were impacted by a confluence of factors. These issues, including higher raw material costs, supply chain disruptions, storms which delayed shipping from our Mexico cut-and-sew operation and inefficiencies in Mexico as we transition all custom cut-and-sewn product from our U.S. operations, have abated somewhat and are not anticipated to impact our results throughout the remainder of the year to the extent they did this quarter. Historically, with our first quarter seasonally our slowest period of the year, the mix of one-time external factors exacerbated the pressure on sales and earnings for the quarter. We believe this is not representative of La-Z-Boy’s performance going forward as we have a lean and efficient operating structure and are moving into what is typically a stronger selling season.”

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