NEW YORK-WestPoint Home posted a net loss of $10 million for its 2009 fiscal third quarter, up from the $6 million net loss in its third fiscal quarter of last year.
WestPoint’s parent company Icahn Enterprises also reported a net sales drop of 13 percent in the quarter, to $94 million. This offset a decrease of 5.3 percent from its selling, general and administrative expenses and a 14 percent falloff in cost of goods sold. In its 10-Q filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Icahn Enterprises cited the ongoing weakness in the home-textiles environment, along with continuing competition from low-priced imports from Asia and Latin America, the difficult U.S. retail economy and the slowdown in residential home sales.
Icahn Enterprises said WestPoint continues its efforts to cut SG&A by consolidating its locations, reducing employee head count and overseeing its general expense picture more stringently. However, the company also observed that the prevailing economic conditions—in particular, poor comparable-store sales results from its retail customers—will likely challenge its own financial results for the remainder of this fiscal year.
