A solid uptick in revenue and same-store sales at Leon’s Furniture wasn’t enough to overcome a loss in its investment portfolio during the first quarter.

For the three months ending March 31, system wide revenue for Canada’s largest full-line furniture retailer was C$546.5 million, a 7.1% gain over the C$510.3 million for the same period of 2015.

Same-store sales were up 7.7%, which was driven mainly by increased advertising spending.

However, the retailer would up with a net loss for the quarter of C$4.7 million or seven Canadian cents a share. That reversed net earnings of C$4.1 million or six cents per share for the 2015 period.

The company said the loss was driven by a C$12 million loss on certain financial derivative instruments in Leon’s investment portfolio.

Sales by the company’s 298 corporate stores were C$463.4 million, up 7.9% over C$429.7 million for the corresponding period.

Meanwhile, the 100 franchise stores had sales of C$83.0 million, compared to C$80.6 million for the prior period.

“During Q1, we continued to convert effective promotions and focused cost control into solid same store sales and adjusted diluted earnings per share growth,” said Edward Leon, president and chief operating officer. “In Q1, we made significant progress against our strategic mandate to have a meaningful presence in all key areas of the country. We secured eight highly desirable retail locations in February and recently finalized a joint venture to build and own a state-of-the-art 430,000 square foot distribution center in Vancouver to supply our growing network in British Columbia.”

In February, Leon’s struck a deal with Sears Canada to take over the leases to eight Sears Home stores – four in the Greater Vancouver Area, three in the Greater Toronto Area and the remaining store in Moncton, New Brunswick. All eight are expected to be operating under the Leon’s banner before the end of September.

“In addition, we drove further synergies related to our acquisition of the Brick, including reducing headcount during the quarter,” he continued, adding, “We are confident that through judicious growth and incremental synergies, we will continue to drive value for shareholders in the coming years.”

He was also cautiously optimistic about the balance of 2016.

“Even though the economy remains soft, we expect to see consistent profits in 2016 by improving same store sales, growing e-commerce sales, and continuing to drive efficiencies that will result from the ongoing integration of The Brick,” he said.

(Source: Furniture Today  Author: Michael J. Knell)