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Article: Soft margins bedevil Royal Appliance Mfg. (reduced earnings for Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co.)
- Article from:
- Crain's Cleveland Business
- Article date:
- March 1, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Royal Appliance Manufacturing Inc. is sucking wind, and the road to recovery may entail sweeping changes for the maker of Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners.
Though its sales continue to grow, Royal is suffering from decreased margins and has taken on a pile of debt to supplement its cash flow. Meanwhile, inventories have climbed and production has been cut.
The problems came to the forefront last Tuesday, when Royal reported lower-than-expected year-end earnings.
Profits for 1992 fell 26%, to $20.1 million, or 81 cents a share, from $27.4 million, or $1.09 a share, in 1991. The earnings drop came despite a 44% jump in sales, to $395 million from $273.3 ...