Armstrong Flooring (Lancaster, Pa.) reported a profit of $9.2 million in 2016, down 68.9 percent from a 2015 profit of $29.6 million, and announced a share buyback program worth $50 million.
The company had 2016 sales of $1.19 billion, a 0.8 percent increase from sales of $1.18 billion in 2015. Sales of wood flooring in 2016 were $486.1 million, a 2.3 percent increase from sales of $475.4 percent in 2015.
In the fourth quarter, Armstrong Flooring reported a loss of $6.3 million compared with a loss of $16.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. Sales for the fourth quarter were $271.7 million, a 2.9 percent decrease compared with 2015 fourth quarter sales of $280.1 million. Sales of wood flooring in the fourth quarter were $113.4 million, a 1.9 percent decrease compared with sales of $115.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.
“We made significant progress in driving our innovation-based growth initiatives to produce an increase in annual sales for the first time in three years,” said CEO Don Maier in a statement. “However, we continue to encounter a declining trend in our legacy portfolio, and we believe that the sales trends experienced in 2016 will continue in 2017. As a result, we are even more committed to enhancing our mix of higher growth products, while taking actions to revitalize our legacy categories.”
Armstrong Flooring is repurchasing $50 million in shares, effective immediately. The repurchasing program was initiated to increase the company’s capital structure efficiency over time.
“This new share repurchase program provides an effective way to return a portion of excess capital to shareholders while preserving a strong balance sheet and ample liquidity to invest in growth,” Maier said.
