Congoleum reports narrower loss for first quarter '04

Congoleum Corp. reports that company sales for the three months ended March 31, 2004, declined 3.0 percent to $52.0 million, compared with sales of $53.6 million reported in the first quarter of 2003. The net loss for the quarter was $400,000 vs. a net loss of $2.6 million in the year-earlier period. The net loss per share was 5 cents in the first quarter of 2004 compared with 31 cents per share in the first quarter of 2003.

"Despite a slow start, our first quarter bottom-line performance was the best it has been in five years thanks to the expenses we eliminated last year, and would have been even better if our largest distributor had not reduced its inventory by $2 million in the quarter" said Roger S. Marcus, Congoleum chairman of the board. "We are very encouraged by our sales in March and April, which indicate business is picking up momentum. With both factory and distributor stocks at relatively low levels, we stand to benefit from inventory rebuilding as well as improvements in underlying retail demand.