Hooker Furniture Corp. said it turned a profit for the fiscal first quarter as demand improved, exceeding its pre-pandemic growth pace.
The furniture company on Friday posted net income of $9.44 million, compared with a loss of $34.82 million in the year-ago period. Earnings were 78 cents a share, compared with a loss of $2.95 a share.
Net sales for the quarter ended May 2 were $162.9 million, compared with $104.6 million a year earlier.
“While we expected a sizable sales improvement over last year’s first quarter when the pandemic-driven economic downturn began in mid-to-late-March, our results this quarter also represent a strong improvement over the first quarter of fiscal 2020,” Chief Executive Jeremy Hoff said.
He said sales were up 20% from the first quarter two years ago. However, industrywide logistics challenges including higher ocean and freight transit costs, raw materials shortages and inflation remain, Mr. Hoff said.