Financial News Release

11/14/01

La-Z-Boy Reports Second Quarter, First Half Results

MONROE, Mich., Nov 14, 2001 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE: LZB; PCX) announced today it earned $0.33 per diluted share -- prior to a $0.13 per share restructuring charge -- for the three months ended October 27, 2001. These results were at the upper end of the company's enhanced earnings guidance issued three weeks ago. In the comparable quarter of last year, earnings were $0.43 per diluted share, excluding a $0.05 per share nonrecurring gain resulting from an insurance claim recovery. Sales for this year's October quarter totaled $559 million compared to $593 million, a decline of 6 percent.

For the six months ended October 27, 2001, the company earned $0.38 per diluted share, excluding the $0.13 per share restructuring charge, versus $0.64 per diluted share in the first half of fiscal 2001, excluding the $0.05 per share nonrecurring gain. Sales totaled $1.018 billion for this year's first half, 8 percent below the year-earlier level of $1.109 billion.

Upholstery segment sales for the October quarter were essentially unchanged from a year earlier, and for the first six months declined 2 percent -- representing a very favorable showing compared to both the industry and the company's major competitors. Operating profit margin in upholstery, excluding restructuring charges, was 9.2% for the quarter and 6.8% for the six months. "Although below comparable prior-year period margins, these results reflect a positive trend compared to the previous six months, which may prove to have been the bottom of the cycle," according to La-Z-Boy Incorporated president and CEO Jerry Kiser, who continued, "The current trend in our upholstery segment sales is both encouraging and better than many of our competitors, largely as a result of the power of our brand name, and the strength of our proprietary retail distribution. It looks very much as though upholstery sales may have bottomed out, and we would expect to see consecutive quarterly margin improvement going forward as volumes pick up and our previously- announced upholstery capacity reduction initiatives take hold."

Casegoods (wood furniture) segment sales declined 17 percent for the October quarter and fell 20 percent for the first six months. Operating profit margin in casegoods, excluding restructuring charges, was 2.6% for the quarter and 1.4% for the six months. Kiser said, "We anticipate that this segment will be slower to recover, but it has moved from an operating loss to operating profitability over the past two quarters (excluding restructuring charges) and we expect to see continuing consecutive quarterly improvement. We have taken a number of actions to improve this segment's profitability, including facilities restructuring and downsizing to blend imported products and components with our domestically-manufactured furniture.

Commenting on the quarter's operating results, Kiser said, "Considering the severe pressure under which our industry has operated recently, we feel good about our performance. Excluding the restructuring charge, our October quarter gross margin was 24.5%, its highest level in nine quarters -- due in part to our ongoing cost-cutting efforts and actions aimed at streamlining the business. We reduced inventories during the quarter by a total of $15 million, cut our debt to capitalization ratio to 20.6% and repurchased 418,000 shares of La-Z-Boy's common stock for $6.6 million. While we're certainly nowhere near where we want to be, we are working hard to improve the company's basic profitability and believe we're heading in the right direction."

Kiser reiterated that the $0.13 per share restructuring charge, which was announced on October 25th, relates to closing down three of the company's manufacturing facilities and converting two others to warehousing and manufacturing service operations. The charge will primarily cover employee termination costs and the write-down of certain fixed assets and inventories. In total, these efforts will reduce La-Z-Boy Incorporated's U.S. manufacturing operations by about 1.25 million square feet and cut employment by about 570 jobs. "Overall, these restructuring actions are expected to produce savings in the area of $10 million annually," he said.

Noting that the declining sales trends moderated somewhat during the most recent quarter, Kiser added, "We are encouraged that our business has apparently begun to stabilize, and are cautiously optimistic regarding the outlook for the second half of our April fiscal year." He concluded, "While the current unsettled business conditions make it difficult to predict full year results, we will soon start to benefit from easier year-over-year comparisons. We expect a mid single digit percentage sales decline in our January 2002 quarter, and are looking for earnings in the range of $0.26 - $0.30 range per diluted share, versus the $0.27 we earned in the January quarter of fiscal 2001. Our tentative earnings estimate for the fiscal year ending April 2002 is presently $1.05 - $1.12 per diluted share, exclusive of restructuring charges."

Conference Call Information

The dial-in phone number for tomorrow's live conference call (November 15, 2001 at 11 a.m. EST) will be 800-374-1298 for persons calling from within the U.S. or Canada, and the number for international callers will be 706-634-5855. The call will also be webcast live and archived on the Internet, both at www.la-z-boy.com . A telephone replay of the call will be continuously available from approximately 2 p.m. on Thursday, November 15th through noon on Thursday, November 22nd. This replay will be available to callers from the U.S. and Canada at 800-642-1687 and to international callers at 706-645-9291. The replay passcode will be 2171122.

Forward-looking Information:

Any forward-looking statements contained in this report represent management's current expectations, based on present information and current assumptions. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated or projected due to a number of factors. These factors include, but are not limited to: changes in consumer sentiment or demand, changes in housing sales, the impact of terrorism, the impact of interest rate changes, the impact of imports, changes in currency rates, competitive factors, operating factors, the effect of certain restructuring actions, and other factors identified from time to time in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, either to reflect new developments, or for any other reason.

La-Z-Boy Background Information

With annual sales in excess of $2 billion, La-Z-Boy Incorporated is one of the world's largest residential furniture producers, with manufacturing operations in ten states and four foreign countries. The La-Z-Boy Incorporated family of companies produces furniture for every room of the home and office under the brand names Alexvale, American Drew, Bauhaus, Centurion, Clayton Marcus, England, Hammary, HickoryMark, Kincaid, La-Z-Boy, La-Z-Boy Contract Furniture Group, Lea, Pennsylvania House, Pilliod and Sam Moore. And, under the American of Martinsville brand name, La-Z-Boy is also a leading manufacturer of contract furniture for the hospitality and assisted-living markets.

La-Z-Boy Incorporated's vast distribution network of proprietary retailers includes 296 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries(R) and 324 La-Z-Boy In-Store Gallerys; in-store gallery programs at Kincaid, Pennsylvania House and Clayton Marcus; England's Custom Comfort Centers and Lea's Kid's Generation displays. According to industry trade publication Furniture/Today, the La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries retail network, by itself, represents the industry's fifth largest U.S. furniture store. La-Z-Boy's stock is traded on the New York and Pacific stock exchanges under the trading symbol: LZB. Additional information on the company is available at www.la-z-boy.com .

                             LA-Z-BOY INCORPORATED
                        CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME
                 (Amounts in thousands, except per share data)

                                  (UNAUDITED)
                             SECOND QUARTER ENDED
                                  10/27/01  10/28/00 % Over  Percent of Sales
                                                     (Under)
                                 (13 Weeks) (13 Weeks)     10/27/01  10/28/00

    Sales                         $559,189  $592,700   -6%  100.0%   100.0%
    Cost of sales                  435,510   450,569   -3%   77.9%    76.0%
         Gross profit              123,679   142,131  -13%   22.1%    24.0%

    S, G & A                       102,073    97,295    5%   18.2%    16.4%

         Operating profit           21,606    44,836  -52%    3.9%     7.6%

    Interest expense                 2,044     4,497  -55%    0.4%     0.8%
    Interest income                    387       329   18%    0.1%     0.1%
    Other income, net                  363     5,860  -94%    0.0%     1.0%

         Pretax income              20,312    46,528  -56%    3.6%     7.9%

     Income tax expense              7,921    17,612  -55%   39.0% *  37.9% *

         Net income                $12,391   $28,916  -57%    2.2%     4.9%

      Basic EPS                      $0.20     $0.48  -58%

      Diluted avg. shares           61,052    60,684    1%

      Diluted EPS                    $0.20     $0.48  -58%

      Dividends paid                 $0.09     $0.09    0%
           per share

                                  (UNAUDITED)
                                SIX MONTHS ENDED

                               10/27/01    10/28/00  % Over  Percent of Sales
                                                     (Under)
                              (26 Weeks)  (26 Weeks)       10/27/01  10/28/00

    Sales                     $1,018,170  $1,109,407   -8%  100.0%   100.0%
    Cost of sales                796,627     850,935   -6%   78.2%    76.7%
         Gross profit            221,543     258,472  -14%   21.8%    23.3%

    S, G & A                     192,960     189,056    2%   19.0%    17.0%

         Operating profit         28,583      69,416  -59%    2.8%     6.3%

    Interest expense               5,000       8,849  -43%    0.5%     0.8%
    Interest income                  745         782   -5%    0.1%     0.1%
    Other income, net                626       6,476  -90%    0.1%     0.5%

         Pretax income            24,954      67,825  -63%    2.5%     6.1%

    Income tax expense             9,732      25,906  -62%   39.0% *  38.2% *

         Net income              $15,222     $41,919  -64%    1.5%     3.8%


      Basic EPS                    $0.25       $0.69  -64%

      Diluted avg. shares         60,994      60,957    0%

      Diluted EPS                  $0.25       $0.69  -64%

      Dividends paid               $0.18       $0.17    6%
           per share

      * As a percent of pretax income, not sales.


                            LA-Z-BOY INCORPORATED
                           CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

    (Amounts in thousands)               Unaudited
                                                 Increase/(Decrease)  Audited
                           10/27/01    10/28/00   Dollars  Percent    4/28/01
      Current assets
          Cash and
           equivalents       $24,797     $16,741    $8,056    48%     $23,565
          Receivables -
           net               377,744     402,603   (24,859)   -6%     380,867
          Inventories
            Raw materials     82,045     100,948   (18,903)  -19%      90,381
            Work-in-progress  60,250      67,934    (7,684)  -11%      62,465
            Finished goods   113,010     114,199    (1,189)   -1%     115,425
              FIFO
               inventories   255,305     283,081   (27,776)  -10%     268,271
              Excess of FIFO
               over LIFO     (10,850)     (7,703)   (3,147)  -41%     (10,384)
                Total
                 inventories 244,455     275,378   (30,923)  -11%     257,887
          Deferred income
           taxes              19,771      18,769     1,002     5%      26,168
          Income taxes -
           current             2,944       5,655    (2,711)  -48%       2,944
          Other current
           assets             16,133      14,059     2,074    15%      17,345
            Total current
             assets          685,844     733,205   (47,361)   -6%     708,776
      Property, plant and
       equipment             219,656     226,922    (7,266)   -3%     230,341
      Goodwill               110,497     116,224    (5,727)   -5%     112,755
      Trade names            118,876     124,101    (5,225)   -4%     120,981
      Other long-term
       assets                 55,503      58,130    (2,627)   -5%      52,944

                Total
                 assets   $1,190,376  $1,258,582  ($68,206)   -5%  $1,225,797

      Current liabilities
          Lines of credit         $0          $0        $0   N/M      $10,380
          Current portion
           of long-term debt   6,559       1,622     4,937   304%       5,304
          Current portion
           of capital leases     488         457        31     7%         541
          Accounts payable    88,604     108,305   (19,701)  -18%      92,830
          Payroll and
           other compensation 69,694      67,139     2,555     4%      78,550
          Income taxes        10,423       9,808       615     6%      11,490
          Other current
           liabilities        56,816      51,282     5,534    11%      50,820
            Total current
             liabilities     232,584     238,613    (6,029)   -3%     249,915
      Long-term debt         171,477     255,818   (84,341)  -33%     196,923
      Capital leases           2,278       2,868      (590)  -21%       2,496
      Deferred income taxes   46,236      52,493    (6,257)  -12%      45,709
      Other long-term
       liabilities            39,380      32,385     6,995    22%      35,608
      Contingencies and
       commitments
      Shareholders'
       equity
          Common shares,
           $1 par value       60,763      60,227       536     1%      60,501
          Capital in
           excess of par
           value             211,138     211,035       103     0%     210,924
          Retained
           earnings          434,348     408,221    26,127     6%     427,616
          Accum. other
           comprehensive
           loss               (7,828)     (3,078)   (4,750) -154%      (3,895)

            Total
             shareholders'
             equity          698,421     676,405    22,016     3%     695,146
              Total
               liabilities
               and
               shareholders'
               equity     $1,190,376  $1,258,582  ($68,206)   -5%  $1,225,797


                            LA-Z-BOY INCORPORATED
                     CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
                            (Amounts in thousands)


                                 (Unaudited)                  (Unaudited)
                              Second Quarter Ended         Six Months Ended
                            10/27/01      10/28/00      10/27/01     10/28/00
    Cash flows from
     operating activities
      Net income             $12,391       $28,916       $15,222      $41,919

      Adjustments to
       reconcile net income
       to cash provided by
       operating activities
        Depreciation and
         amortization         10,700        11,473        21,621       22,038
        Change in
         receivables         (72,396)      (52,267)        3,602       (6,651)
        Change in
         inventories          15,723        (9,407)       13,432      (29,575)
        Change in payables    11,759        25,098        (4,226)      17,913
        Change in other
         assets and
         liabilities          33,257         4,350            77      (22,638)
        Proceeds from
         insurance recovery                  5,116                      5,116
        Change in deferred
         taxes                 3,465         2,412         6,924        5,818

           Total adjustments   2,508       (13,225)       41,430       (7,979)

           Cash provided by
            operating
            activities        14,899        15,691        56,652       33,940

    Cash flows from
     investing activities
      Proceeds from
       disposals of assets       304           253           843          439
      Capital expenditures    (5,871)       (9,678)      (11,956)     (17,073)
      Change in other
       long-term assets       (3,973)         (818)         (737)       2,330

         Cash used for
          investing
          activities          (9,540)      (10,243)      (11,850)     (14,304)

    Cash flows from
     financing activities
      Proceeds from debt       6,206        15,000        41,576       77,000
      Payment of debt        (21,050)       (7,857)      (76,147)     (66,617)
      Capital leases            (134)         (134)         (271)         712
      Stock issued for
       stock options &
       401(k) plans (net)      4,580         3,495         9,528        5,915
      Repurchase of
       common stock           (6,586)      (11,241)       (6,586)     (23,249)
      Dividends paid          (5,492)       (5,432)      (10,956)     (10,338)

        Cash used for
         financing
         activities          (22,476)       (6,169)      (42,856)     (16,577)

    Effect of exchange
     rate changes on cash       (533)         (563)         (714)        (671)

    Change in cash
     and equivalents         (17,650)       (1,284)        1,232        2,388

    Cash and equivalents
     at beginning of period   42,447        18,025        23,565       14,353

    Cash and equivalents
     at end of period        $24,797       $16,741       $24,797      $16,741

    Cash paid during period
      - Income taxes          $5,437       $18,278        $8,500      $24,726
      - Interest              $2,954        $3,992        $5,216       $6,249

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SOURCE La-Z-Boy Incorporated

CONTACT:          Mark Stegeman of La-Z-Boy Incorporated, +1-734-241-4418,
                  mark.stegeman@la-z-boy.com 

URL:              http://www.la-z-boy.com 
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