TRINITY, N.C.–Net income for Sealy jumped 31.5 percent in the first quarter, reaching $5.7 million.
The increase was driven partly by a net sales rise of 9.6 percent to $339.6 million. Also, the company’s gross margin gained an impressive 331 basis points in the quarter. Both of these factors helped to offset a 12.7 percent increase in selling, general and administrative expenses, and a 27.3 percent rise in interest expense.
In a statement from Sealy, Larry Rogers, president and chief executive officer, noted that the company’s sales gain received boosters from increases in both unit volume and average unit selling price. Rogers added that Sealy benefited from last year’s launch of a new Stearns & Foster line; from the rollout at this year’s February Las Vegas market of a new Sealy promotional collection, the Embody specialty line and new Posturepedic mattresses; and from the company’s “relentless focus on permanently reducing its cost structure.”