Pembroke Pines, Fla. -- Decorator Industries Inc. announced its operating results for the first quarter ended April 4, 2009.

Decorator reported a net loss of $1,290,929, or $0.44 per diluted share for the first quarter ended April 4, 2009 , compared to a net loss of $475,518 million, or $0.16 per diluted share in the same quarter one year ago.

Mr. Johnson, president, stated:

"The economic crisis impacted all of our markets in the first quarter of 2009. Net sales for the first quarter decreased 51 percent to $5,105,638 compared to $10,503,898 for the first quarter of 2008. Our sales to RV customers were $853,000, a decrease of 82 percent from $4,820,000 in last year's first quarter. Sales to MH customers decreased by 46 to $1,300,000 from $2,391,000 in last year's first quarter. Hospitality sales decreased by 10 percent to $2,953,000 from $3,293,000.

"The RV industry reported that total RV wholesale shipments declined 63 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from last year's first quarter. Towable RV shipments, primarily travel trailers, declined by 61 percent while motor home shipments decreased about 78 percent from the first quarter of 2008. The Company's sales to the RV industry decreased by more than the overall market because two of the Company's major RV customers filed bankruptcies during the first week of March 2009. Sales to these two customers were just over $100,000 in the first quarter of 2009 versus more than $2 million in the first quarter 2008. The MH industry reported that wholesale shipments for this year's first quarter decreased by 46 percent from a year ago. The hospitality industry has seen declines in occupancy, room rates, number of new rooms coming online and hotel real estate transactions. Based on the current economic conditions we can not expect to see meaningful improvement from any of our markets over the next several quarters. To overcome the decline in our markets we will aggressively seek new opportunities to grow market share.

"The operating loss increased to $1,770,195 or 34.7 percent of net sales in 2009 from $757,866 or 7.2 percent of net sales in the first quarter of 2008. The increased loss was caused by a one-time $750,000 charge related to our decision to discontinue the manufacturing of sewn goods for the RV industry as well as the significant reduction in total sales volume. Significant cost savings totaling almost $688,000 for first quarter of 2009 were offset by the decline in sales and one-time charge.

"We recently completed the sale-leaseback of two facilities and used the proceeds of $1,438,000 to pay down our line of credit with Wachovia Bank.

"We have an experienced and committed management team that is determined to navigate through these tough times. We will continue to review our operations at all levels and take the aggressive actions necessary to make sure we overcome these challenging times."