Congoleum Q1 sales ebb, net loss deepens; 150 laid off

MERCERVILLE, N.J. – Resilient sheet and tile manufacturer Congoleum Corp. reported declining sales and a widening net loss for the first quarter ended March 31, 2001 and announced that it had fired 150 employees to save the company $1 million per month.

Sales for the period were $53.2 million, compared with sales of $56.9 million in the first quarter of 2000, a decrease of 6.5%. The net loss for the quarter was $3.7 million versus a net loss of $1.9 million in 2000. The loss per share was 45 cents in the first quarter of 2001 compared with a loss of 23 cents in the comparable year-earlier period.