Airsprung sales slide 14% but second half margin improvement limits damage

29th June 2009 | furniture | Bed and upholstery group Airpsrung Furniture returned a loss of 0.5m in the year to 31st March – as sales dropped 14% to £43m.

The manufacturing group said its Airpsrung Beds brand suffered from increases to raw material and oil prices, while Gainsborough’s independent retail, hotel and department stores sales were hard hit by the recession.

Cavendish Upholstery, it said, had a very poor year due to reduced demand.

There were ‘satisfactory’ performances for the group’s smaller businesses, foam converter Airofreem and graphic design business Arena.

The company’s second half performance was significantly stronger than its first six months, largely due to cost savings. It made a H2 profit of £304,000 against first half loss of £721,000.

Airsprung bought bed and mattress manufacturer Hush-a-Bye during the year for a figure that could rise to £300,000, which it hopes will boost the firm’s mid-market retail business.

The group has also signed a license agreement for its Airsprung Beds brand to be sold in the US and Canadian markets – which is expected to bring the brand to a broad base of retail stores in North America.

In the previous year, Airsprung returned a profit of £1.4m on sales of £49.9m.