Lumber Liquidators Q1 sales top estimates

Toano, Va. – Despite bad publicity from a March 2015 “60 Minutes” report alleging carcinogenic materials in the laminate of some Chinese hardwood it sells, Lumber Liquidators beat Wall Street sales estimates in first quarter 2015. In a sales update, Lumber Liquidators said sales were $260 million, an increase of 6% from first quarter 2014.



However, net sales in the month of March were $89.4 million, a decrease of 13% in comparison to March 2014. Consistent with company's previously released expectations, net sales in March 2015 were significantly weaker than trends in January and February, as they were negatively impacted by the “60 Minutes” report. Lumber Liquidators opened four new stores during first quarter 2015 and was operating 356 locations at March 31, 2015.



Same-store sales dropped 1.8% in comparison to first quarter 2014, due to a 6.2% decrease in the average sale, partially offset by a 4.4% increase in the number of customers invoiced. In the month of March 2015, same-store sales decreased 17.8% due to a 6.5% decrease in the average sale and an 11.3% decrease in the number of customers invoiced.



Total laminate net sales, which were 21.2% of net sales through February 2015, fell 4.8 percentage points to 16.4% in the month of March 2015, primarily due to a decrease in the sales mix of laminates sourced from China. Additionally, in comparing March 2015 to the first two months of the quarter, the sales mix of bamboo, vinyl plank and cork fell 1.2 percentage points while the sales mix of solid and engineered hardwoods rose 4.7 percentage points.