Dixie Group Inc. narrows losses with higher carpet sales

The Dixie Group Inc. boosted its carpet sales by 9.3 percent in the first quarter to cut its losses compared with a year ago.

The Dalton, Ga.-based floorcovering maker said Thursday it lost $575,000 on sales of $97.5 million from continuing operations in the first three months of the year. A year ago, Dixie lost nearly $4.8 million on sales of $89.2 million.

“Though the first quarter of the year is historically our weakest quarter, this year our sales were substantially stronger as compared to the same period in 2016,” said Daniel Frierson, CEO of Dixie Group. “Our floorcovering sales were up over the first quarter of 2016 by 11.9 percent while we estimate the industry was flat for the same comparative period.”

Dixie said sales of residential products increased 12.7 percent in the first quarter of 2017 versus the same period in 2016, compared with industry gains that were fairly flat in the same period.

“Our commercial product sales, largely led by modular carpet tile, increased 10.4 percent in 2017 versus 2016 while the industry sales, we believe, were off in the low single digits,” Frierson said.

Frierson said Dixie continues to improve its cost structure in production, although Dixie said those gains were offset by higher medical costs and maintenance expenses modifying one of the company’s dye facilities.

Dixie said the startup of the company’s expanded yarn processing capabilities in Atmore, Ala., “should improve our response time and further lower the cost of our make-to-order production model.”