Limber Liquidators had a net loss of $37.8 million in 2017, although sales grew 7.1 percent.
The loss is an improvement from the company’s net loss of $68.6 million in 2016.
The company’s net sales in 2017 totaled $1,029 million, up from $961 million in 2016. Comparable store net sales increased $52 million, or 5.4 percent.
Fourth quarter sales saw an operating profit of $0.6 million, compared with a loss of $9.2 million during the same quarter in 2016. Net sales in the fourth quarter saw a 6.1 percent increase from 2016, totaling $260 million, with comparable store net sales increasing 4.5 percent.
Lumber Liquidators opened eleven new stores in 2017, six during the fourth quarter, and closed one.
The company announced expectations for 2018, which include a total revenue growth percentage in the mid-to-upper single digits and a comparable store sales growth percentage in the mid-single digits for the year, with the first quarter in the low single digits. It also announced plans to open 20–25 new locations in 2018.
The company has been in recovery mode since a 2015 report on 60 Minutes that the wood flooring retail giant’s Chinese-made laminate product contained unsafe levels of formaldehyde. It has paid out millions in class action lawsuits since the scandal.
The company also faced considerable legal scrutiny the following year, pleading guilty in 2016 to a felony violation of the Lacey Act for knowingly importing illegally harvested wood from a protected Siberian tiger habitat.
