In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, diversified manufacturer Leggett & Platt Inc. reported record net earnings per share of $0.76, a $0.12 increase compared with the fourth quarter of 2019. L&P’s total net earnings in the quarter grew 19% to $103.2 million.
RESULTS
L&P 4th Quarter
Net earnings
$103.2 million
Net sales
$1.18 billion
4th Quarter Segment Results
Bedding Products
+3%
Furniture, Flooring & Textile Products
+5%
Specialized Products
+1%
Full Year
Net earnings
$247.6 million
Net sales
$4.28 billion
Full Year Segment Results
Bedding Products
-10%
Furniture, Flooring & Textile Products
-6%
Specialized Products
-16%
The Carthage, Missouri-based company posted fourth-quarter net sales of $1.18 billion, a 3% increase compared with the prior-year quarter.
Fourth-quarter sales in Bedding Products (which includes all products sold to the bedding industry — adjustable beds, steel rod and wire, foam and springs, and all bed- and spring-making machinery) increased 3%. In Furniture, Flooring & Textile Products sales grew 5%, and in Specialized Products sales rose 1%.
For the full year, earnings declined 26% to $247.6 million on sales of $4.28 billion (a 10% year-over-year earnings decline). The decline largely was due to economic impacts of the pandemic, the company said.
Full-year sales in Bedding Products; Furniture, Flooring & Textile Products; and Specialized Products declined 10%, 6% and 16%, respectively, primarily due to pandemic-related economic declines earlier in the year, L&P said.
“We are pleased to have delivered a strong fourth quarter to end a very challenging 2020,” said Karl Glassman, chair and chief executive officer. “For the full year, we generated strong operating cash flow, reduced debt levels, maintained significant liquidity, and increased the dividend for the 49th consecutive year.
“Our teams across our corporate functions and businesses came together to find solutions and navigate the many issues that resulted from the global pandemic. I am extremely proud of all they accomplished. We finished 2020 as a stronger company as a result of their extraordinary efforts.
“We expect continued recovery into 2021 as a result of strong consumer demand for home-related items and global automotive, and modest improvement in our businesses in industries that are experiencing ongoing impacts from Covid-19. We also expect continued supply chain constraints, inflation in commodity costs, and recovery of those higher costs through selling price increases.”
