Superior Uniform Group's 2012 Net Sales Increase Despite 33% Q4 Earnings Drop

Superior Uniform Group Inc., a manufacturer of uniforms and image apparel located in Seminole, Fla., announced its fourth quarter and year-end operating results for 2012.

The company announced that for the year ended December 31, 2012, net sales increased 6.3 percent to $119,486,000, compared to 2011 net sales of $112,373,000. Net earnings for the year ended December 31, 2012 were $3,031,000, compared to $4,136,000 for the year ended December 31, 2011, a 26.7 percent decline.

Despite a 14 percent net increase in sales, net earnings for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2012 were down 44 percent, $485,000 in 2012 compared to net earnings of $725,000 in the same quarter of 2011. Net earnings for the fourth quarter included a non-cash, pre-tax intangible asset impairment loss of $1,226,000 to write off the remaining balance of its intangible asset associated with its licensing agreement with EyeLevel Interactive North America, LLC.

"As we have discussed in our previous releases, our gross margins were greatly pressured in the first three quarters of 2012 as we worked our way through the higher priced inventory relative to the cotton crisis," said Michael Benstock, chief executive officer for Superior Uniform Group. "As a result, our gross margins for the year ended December 31, 2012 were 33.3 percent as compared to 35.8 percent for the prior year. As expected, we saw significant improvement in our gross margins in the fourth quarter up to 34.2 percent compared to 33.0 percent for the first nine months of 2012. We expect that this trend will continue in 2013."

Benstock highlighted that sales for the quarter and the year were up over 2012 despite the earnings drop. In particular, the company's uniforms and related products segment saw a 12.8 percent increase in the last three months of 2012, and its remote staffing solutions segment jump 55 percent in the same period. "Our financial position remains very strong as we ended the year in a positive cash position and with a debt free balance sheet despite prepaying our regular quarterly dividend for the full year of 2013 during the fourth quarter of 2012," he said.

"We believe that 2012 was a transition year for the company as we worked to improve our internal sales and marketing support systems for both our Uniforms and Related Products segment and our Remote Staffing Solutions segment," Benstock said. "We enter 2013 in a very strong position and anticipate reporting continued significant improvement in our operating results."

The full earnings report is available on Superior Uniform Group's website.