Lumber Liquidators' shares fall as profit slips 17 percent

Shares in Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. plunged more than 10 percent, falling $2.90 to close at $24.44 after it announced Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profit fell 17 percent.

Lumber Liquidators said it earned $5.9 million in the quarter ending Dec. 31, compared with $7.1 million a year earlier. Earnings per share dropped to 21 cents from 25 cents.

The hardwood flooring retailer, based in Toano, near Williamsburg, attributed the decline to increased transportation costs and productivity lost to its implementation of new technology that links sales and inventory management.

October-to-December sales increased 11.8 percent to $153.2 million from $137.1 million a year earlier. The company opened 37 new stores in 2010.

For all of 2010, Lumber Liquidators earned $26.3 million, or 93 cents per share, on sales of $620.3 million. In 2009, it made $26.9 million, or 97 cents a share, on sales of $544.6 million.

So far in 2011, the company has opened seven more new stores, bringing the total to more than 230 across the United States.

It said it expects earnings for the year to range from $1.10 to $1.28 a share on sales of $700 million to $730 million.