CALHOUN, Ga.-Reduced costs and improved pricing and product mix helped bolster Mohawk Industries’ bottom line to a 50.7 percent gain, totaling $70.3 million.
A company statement said expenses were held in check thanks to enhanced productivity and lessened manufacturing and distribution costs. Selling, general and administrative expenses edged up 1 percent in dollars but shed 20 basis points as a percentage of sales, to 18.3 percent. Sales in higher-priced products, such as specialty and contractor carpets in the Mohawk segment and the SmartStrand Silk premium carpet collection, helped boost gross margin by 51 basis points to 25.3 percent.
Net sales for the company picked up 2.1 percent to $1.5 billion. The company’s top line benefited from a 9 percent sales gain from the Dal-Tile segment, which included increases from its residential and commercial categories and “continued significant growth” in the Mexican market.
Jeff Lorberbaum, Mohawk’s chairman and CEO, said all of the company’s segments delivered “solid third-quarter performances....Across the enterprise, we have managed to keep SG&A dollars in line with last year, even as we invested significantly more in new product innovations and marketing to improve our future sales and product mix.”