Manufacturer of thread and specialty engineered yarns American & Efird (A & E) —a subsidiary of Ruddick Corporation—has boosted Ruddick’s consolidated sales in the fiscal second quarter ended April 2. During this period, Ruddicks’s consolidated sales rose 8.9% to $801 million from $736 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2005. For the 26 weeks ended April 2, sales of $1.6 billion were 9.2% above the $1.46 billion for the comparable period of fiscal 2005.

A & E's sales of $85.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2006 increased 6.9% from the $80.1 million for the same quarter of fiscal 2005. The increase was driven by a domestic sales increase of 11.4% and a foreign sales increase of 2.7%. Foreign sales accounted for approximately 50% and 52% of A & E sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2006 and fiscal 2005, respectively.

A & E’s sales for the 26 weeks ended April 2, 2006 were $166.2 million, an increase of 9.5% from the prior year period when sales were $151.8 million. This increase was driven by domestic sales increases of 18.6% and foreign sales increases of 1.4%. The increase in domestic sales resulted primarily from sales attributed to the acquisition of the businesses of Robison-Anton Textile Co. in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 and Ludlow Textiles Company, Inc. in the second quarter of fiscal 2005.