Credit buoys Culp profits

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 6/21/2004 12:00:00 AM

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Fourth-fiscal quarter profits at decorative fabrics producer Culp Inc. rose 14.1 percent, to $3.7 million from $3.3 million last year, fueled entirely by a $1 million restructuring credit as the company got back some of the $13 million in restructuring costs it spent a year ago.

Excluding the one-time, pre-tax credit, operating profits at the company slipped 2.6 percent, to $5.7 million from $5.9 million a year ago.

Culp sales declined 5.8 percent, to $85.1 million from $90.4 million, as steep drops in decorative fabrics, velvets and prints, and yarn offset an increase in mattress ticking.

Acting as a drag, Culp Decorative fabric sales fell 14.8 percent, to $31.5 million from $37 million a year ago. Culp velvets and prints declined a further 5 percent, to $25.4 million from $26.8 million; and the Culp Yarn business tumbled 42.6 percent, to $1 million from $1.8 million last year. The only business making a positive move during the closing quarter was mattress ticking, where sales jumped 9.4 percent, to $27.2 million from $24.9 million.