Huttig Building Products, St. Louis, MO, reported sales for 2010 were $467.7 million, an increase of 2.7 percent from sales in 2009. The distributor of building materials recorded a net loss from continuing operations of $19.4 million, compared to a year-ago loss of $19.8 million and a loss of $35.2 million in 2008.
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Sales in the fourth quarter were $103.1 million, down slightly in a year-over-year comparison. Loss from continuing operations was $6.1 million, compared to profit of $800,000 for the same period a year ago.
Millwork sales increased 10 percent in 2010 to $224.4 million, and wood products sales increased 20 percent to $49.6 million. Building products sales fell 7 percent to $193.7 million, primarily due to lower roofing, fastener, house wrap and insulation sales in 2010.
\”The downturn in the residential construction market is in its fifth consecutive year and has become one of the most severe housing downturns in U.S. history,\” Huttig said in its latest SEC filing. \”Our sales depend heavily on the strength of local and national new residential construction, home improvement and remodeling markets. … While we expect the severe downturn in new residential construction to continue to adversely affect our operating results into 2011, we anticipate a slight increase in housing starts in 2011 versus 2010 based on recent signs of economic stabilization coupled with industry forecasts for 2011.\”
Since 2006, the building materials distributor has closed, consolidated or sold 20 distribution centers and reduced its workforce by 1,300. The company currently has about 900 employees.
