Armstrong World Sales sees sales decline

Floors and ceilings manufacturer Armstrong World Industries reported net sales of $622.3 million in the first quarter ended March 31, down 2.1% from $636.0 million in the same quarter last year.

The Lancaster, Pa.-based company reported net earnings of $3.0 million, down from $18.2 million in last year’s first quarter.

"We delivered first-quarter results in line with the expectations we outlined earlier this year, despite a continued choppy commercial market environment," said Matt Espe, pPresident and CEO. "We also achieved a significant milestone toward our growth initiatives in China as we commenced operations at our homogenous flooring and ceilings plants. Collectively, I’m proud that construction of these plants was completed with a perfect employee safety record and the plants were brought online as scheduled and on budget." 

Sales were negatively impacted by approximately $9 million due to the sale of the Patriot wood flooring distribution business, which occurred in the third quarter of 2012. The sales decline was also driven by lower commercial volumes, which more than offset gains in new residential construction that resulted in strong volume growth in the Wood Flooring business. Price and mix were both positive, but only partially offset the impact of lower volumes.