Driven by mattress fabric sales, revenue at NYSE-listed Culp, Inc., one of the world's largest marketers of mattress fabrics for bedding and upholstery fabrics rose 8.4 percent in the first fiscal quarter ending August 3, 2014.
Net sales in the first quarter of 2014 totalled $76.1 million, up 8.4 percent year-on-year, driven by mattress fabric sales which went up 12.2 percent and upholstery fabric sales which increased 3.9 percent.
Culp clarified that first quarter of fiscal 2015 had 14 weeks compared with 13 weeks for the first quarter of fiscal 2014.
Pre-tax income reached $5.5 million, compared with $5.5 million for the prior year period.
Non-GAAP adjusted net income amounted to $4.5 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, for the current quarter, compared with $4.7 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, for the prior year period.
Culp said its financial position remained strong with cash and cash equivalents and short term investments of $31.0 million and total debt of $5.0 million as of August 3, 2014.
However, consolidated return on capital declined 27 percent compared with 32 percent in the prior year period, while free cash flow too was down to $1.4 million compared with $1.9 million a year ago.
Culp announced a cash dividend of $0.05 per share, and a special cash dividend of $0.40 per share during the quarter, for an outgo totalling to $5.5 million.
Culp expects sales to rise between 1-5 percent from a year earlier quarter in the second fiscal quarter of 2014. It forecast pre-tax income to be in the range of $4.2 million to $4.9 million.
It also expects fiscal 2015 to be a good year for free cash flow even after the planned $10 million in capital expenditures.
Culp added that since June 2011, it has returned a total of $26.2 million to shareholders in the form of regular quarterly and special dividends and share repurchases.
CEO Frank Saxon said, "Overall, our first fiscal quarter performance was in line with our expectations, marking a solid start to fiscal 2015."
He added, "We also have the financial strength to make the strategic investments to support our continued growth as reflected in our plan to significantly increase capital expenditures for fiscal 2015."
