Leggett & Platt

Leggett & Platt is a publicly traded company having a excellent stock performance result. Leggett & Platt is a fortune 500 stock listed company trading under LEG.

J.P. Leggett and C.B. Platt were both residents of Carthage, a county seat in southwest Missouri, when they formed their business partnership in 1883. J.P. Leggett was an inventor and had several patents to his credit. When he developed the idea for a spiral steel coil bedspring, he went to his brother-in-law, C.B. Platt, for his manufacturing capability and knowledge.

The modern growth era for the company began in the 1960's, when current executive management assumed leadership. Being substantially invested in Leggett stock, then and now, management developed a plan to improve the potential for long-term growth. The strategy is a proven success, resulting in leading marketing, manufacturing and distribution capabilities.

Leggett & Platt is a expanded manufacturer that considers designs and produces a broad range of engineered components and products that can be found in virtually every home, office, retail store, and automobile. With sales of 5.3 billion dollars in 2005, the company is ranked 384 in the Fortune 500, and serves a broad suite of customers that comprise. Full year sales increased 4.2percent, or 214 million dollars, to a record of 5.3 billion dollars. About one-half of the growth came from internal sales increases, and one-half from acquisitions. Inflation mainly in 2005 caused most of the internal sales growth. They saw a series of acquisitions come together in the fourth quarter; these should contribute noticeably to their 2006 revenue.

Their cash flow and balance sheet remain quite strong. During the year they generated 448 million dollars in cash from operations, a 32percent increase versus 2004, and significantly more than were required to fund internal growth and dividends.

With revenue of about 150 million dollars, this is the third largest acquisition in Leggett’s history. When combined with existing operations, Leggett became the second-largest supplier in this 1.5 billion dollars U.S. market. Ikex / Jarex added 65 million dollars of revenue and significantly enhanced Leggett’s presence in the converting and distribution of geotextiles, silt fencing, erosion control and soil stabilization products for the landscape, geotextile and agricultural markets. This addition boosted their annual sales to about 80 million dollars in this 900 million dollars market.