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Kimball reports a profitable first quarter [Evansville Courier & Press, Ind.](Evansville Courier & Press (IN) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 07--When Jasper-based Kimball International released its first-quarter earnings report this week, the reporting was a good bit more complex than usual for the manufacturing company. That's because the company went through a big change recently. Until last month, Kimball had operated both a furniture division and an electronics division. As of Oct. 31, the electronics business was spun off as a separate publicly traded company, Kimball Electronics. The furniture division will continue to do business under the Kimball International name. Since the spinoff happened after the end of its first quarter, Kimball's earnings report includes results from both furniture and electronics. Kimball's first-quarter earnings presentation But the company also reported pro forma numbers this week -- to show how the furniture company would have performed last quarter if the electronics spinoff had already taken place. And the quarter also included a number of spinoff-related costs. "I know this gets somewhat complicated," Chief Executive Officer Bob Schneider told analysts during a conference call Friday morning. Including both furniture and electronics, Kimball posted net income of $8.0 million (21 cents per share), down 13 percent from the same period last year. In its pro forma results, Kimball said that its furniture operations alone would have posted net income of $2.6 million (7 cents per share). Kimball International makes furniture for both the office and hospitality markets. Looking ahead, Schneider said Kimball expects growth in both of these areas through the end of the year. "It has been many years since the horizon in our markets has looked this bright." The growth is partly because the U.S. economy is improving, Schneider said, and partly because Kimball is putting more emphasis on developing new products. During the past year the company introduced 18 new products, more than double the number it typically completes per year. During the 2014 fiscal year, Schneider said, "we really hit the gas pedal on new product introductions." The company expects to start seeing a bump in sales from these new products during the third and fourth quarters, Schneider said. Shares of Kimball closed at $10.00 Friday on the Nasdaq market, down 4 percent. ___ (c)2014 the Evansville Courier & Press (Evansville, Ind.) Visit the Evansville Courier & Press (Evansville, Ind.) at www.courierpress.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |