Ethan Allen shares plummet on outlook

DANBURY, Conn. (AP) — Shares of Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. fell nearly 15 percent on Monday after the company said last week that it would lose more money than analysts expected in its first quarter.

For the period ended Sept. 30, the company said it expects a loss before items of between 21 cents and 23 cents per share. That is wider than a loss of 8 cents per share that analysts had expected, according toThomson Reuters.

CEO Farooq Kathwari said in a statement that results were affected by costs for a consolidation of an upholstery factory and realignment of case-goods manufacturing in the Northeast.

Sales also fell shy of Wall Street expectations. Ethan Allen said net sales were $136.2 million, compared with $205.8 million a year earlier. Analysts, on average, expected revenue of $150.4 million.

Ethan Allen shares fell $2.42, or 14.5 percent, to $14.25 in early afternoon trading. It plans to provide more details on Thursday.

Stifel Nicolaus&Co. analyst John Baugh said the results were disappointing, especially since Ethan Allen said in August that "revenue declines were substantially reduced" on a sequential basis.

The Danbury, Conn., company also said on Friday that it had refinanced a senior secured credit revolving facility, raising its available credit by $20 million, to $60 million. The company said it has no plans to use the facility other than for $12.5 million in outstanding letters of credit.