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[July 2003]
Dal-Tile Performs Well For Mohawk
Mohawk Industries Inc (Calhoun, GA, USA) announced on 16 July 2003 that diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the second quarter of 2003 were a record US$1.12 (or US$74.985 million in net earnings) against US$1.10 in the second quarter of 2002.
The improvement in EPS resulted from strong earnings in the Dal-Tile segment and lower outstanding shares due to the stock repurchase programme.
Net overall sales for Q2 2003 increased 2% from Q2 2002 - from US$1.2278 billion to US$1.2472 billion. The sales increase was attributable to strong sales of hard surface products. The Mohawk segment (carpets, rugs, etc) saw sales drop 1%. Dal-Tile, one of the largest ceramic tile manufacturers, recorded sales for Q2 2003 of US$320.436 million, rising steeply (11%) over the sales figure for Q2 2002, which was US$289.067 million.
Dal-Tile continues to perform exceptionally well with strong sales and earnings. The operating margin as a percentage of sales declined slightly, primarily due to the start-up costs of the new tile manufacturing plant. The plant began production in June 2003 and is still on target to be at breakeven by the end of the year.
During the second quarter, Dal-Tile also completed the acquisition of a regional stone operation which will make it the largest distributor of stone flooring and countertop slabs in the USA.
Net sales for Mohawk Industries for the first half of 2003 were US$2.3319 billion, up 11% from the first half of 2002.
ENDS