LINWOOD, Pa. -- Foamex International Inc. (NASDAQ:FMXI), the world's leading producer of comfort cushioning for carpet cushion, announced a 5.4 percent hike in net sales in its third quarter financial results, which ended Sept. 30.

Net sales for the quarter were $326.4 million, up 5.4 percent from $309.7 million in the same period last year. The increase was primarily the result of the acquisition in late July of certain assets of General Foam Corporation (GFC), which contributed to growth in the company's Automotive Products and Technical Products businesses. New product sales were also strong in the quarter.

Net income grew to $7.4 million, compared with $3.8 million for the third quarter of 2000. EBDAIT for the quarter was $34.5 million, a 6.8 percent decline from $37.1 million in the third quarter of last year.

"The General Foam acquisition is already contributing in a positive way to the growth and profitability of our company. In addition, new product initiatives continue to run ahead of our aggressive plan to double sales of new products, to $60 million, in 2001," said Foamex president and CEO John Televantos. "We have now posted 11 consecutive quarters of stable EBDAIT levels."

He said the company reduced debt by an additional $18.6 million during the quarter, and more than $44 million year to date. Total debt at Sept. 30 was $668 million. As a result, "our debt leverage at September 30 was below our covenant target level, which will further reduce effective interest rates going forward," said Televantos.

Gross profit for the quarter was $46.1 million, an increase of 3 percent over $44.7 million for the third quarter of 2000. As a percent of sales, gross profit for the quarter was 14.1 percent, compared with 14.4 percent in the third quarter of last year. Net income for the period was $24 million, compared with $13.6 million in the prior-year period.

Foamex, headquartered in Linwood, Pa., is the world's leading producer of comfort cushioning for bedding, furniture, carpet cushion and automotive markets. It also manufactures high-performance polymers for diverse applications in the industrial, military, electronics and computer industries as well as filtration and acoustical applications for the home. Revenues for 2000 were $1.3 billion.

For more information, visit the Foamex web site at www.foamex.com.