CANADA - Dorel Home Furnishings revenue increased by USD 14.3 million, or 8.8% to a record USD 176.1 million compared with USD 161.8 million of first quarter 2015.
The segment recorded another superior quarter of sales to on-line retailers, which continue to drive revenue growth. The e-commerce distribution channel represented 42% of total segment sales, compared to 30% of 1Q-2015. This growth far exceeded reductions in sales through the brick and mortar channel.
Operating profit increased to USD 16.5 million from USD 9.6 million reaching 9.3% as a percentage of revenue. This was due to the continuing sales growth as well as higher margins attained through the e-commerce distribution channel.
“In Home Furnishings, we have started the year with our best quarter in many years as our line of furniture is extremely well suited to the e-commerce sales channel. We identified several years ago that this channel was going to be the future of our industry and we are now capitalizing on our operational investments to increasingly capture this business. We have placed more products at more customers each year, and the results are evident. While the pace of earnings improvement will slow, we expect to continue to deliver strong results compared to prior years,” stated Martin Schwartz, Dorel President & CEO.
