Palm Harbor Homes Inc. says bright spots exist despite poor revenue
After reporting disappointing first-quarter results, Palm Harbor Homes, Inc. (Nasdaq: PHHM) executives said during a conference call this morning that some bright spots remain. For one thing, said the Addison, Texas-based manufactured homes maker, the company has $84 million in backlog orders, up 24% from last year’s first quarter. Also, Palm Harbor reported success with its new sales website.
“The number of customers who contacted Palm Harbor from the Internet versus a retail location increased 300% from last year during the quarter,” CEO Larry Keener said.
After Tuesday’s closing bell, the company reported net sales of $143.3 million for the first quarter ended June 29, compared with $194.5 million in the same period of 2006. Palm Harbor recorded a net loss of $4.3 million, or $0.19 per share, compared with a profit of $3.6 million, or $0.16 per share, a year earlier.
Wall Street analysts were expecting earnings per share of $0.01, and $176.1 million in revenue.
“Industry shipments have continued to decline with 2007 HUD-code units down 29.6% through the month of May and modular home shipments down 20.4% through March,” Keener said. “While recognizing that there are many economic and industry factors beyond our control, we continue to focus on improving Palm Harbor’s performance and pursuing a strategic direction that will allow us to be consistently profitable in this environment.”
In midday trading, shares of Palm Harbor are down $0.58, or 4.07%, at $13.68.
