WEST WARWICK – Specialty electronics manufacturer Astro-Med Inc. (Nasdaq: ALOT) posted a third-quarter profit of $649,000, a decrease of 58.45 percent from the year-ago $1.562 million, on sales that fell 7.6 percent to $17.681 million.
Earnings per diluted share fell to 9 cents from the 2007 third quarter’s 21 cents. (READ MORE)
But results for the year-ago period included a one-time benefit of about $446,000, or 6 cents per diluted share, from the resolution of certain income-tax examinations, the company said. Excluding that year-ago gain, Astro-Med’s third-quarter profit would have fallen 41.84 percent.
“We are pleased to have achieved solid third-quarter results despite the difficult current business climate,” CEO Albert W. Ondis said in the after-market report.
“We continued our aggressive new-product development program and maintained our renowned high level of customer support, while at the same time strengthening our powerful balance sheet by increasing our cash and marketable securities position to $22.093 million [from $17.556 million on Jan. 31]; improving our current ratio to 6.08 to 1; and remaining debt free,” Ondis said.
Astro-Med recorded $18.301 million in new orders during the quarter just ended, matching its first-quarter bookings.
Its Test & Measurement division posted a 9.3-percent increase in third-quarter revenue, despite ruggedized cockpit printer sales that were “impacted by production delays in the Airbus 380 and Boeing 787 aircraft,” as airlines trimmed their orders, the company said. The QuickLabel Systems brand was hurt “by our customers’ cautious attitude toward making new purchases,” the company said. And in the Grass Technologies division, although third-quarter sales of sleep and most neurological instruments rose 30.8 percent year-over-year, “sales of Grass long-term monitoring products and products aimed at research applications lagged behind the previous year,” Astro-Med said in its report.
Still, the CEO noted, “our gross profit margins remained healthy at 43.3 percent and income from operations exceeded $1 million. And, we continued to pay cash dividends at the annual rate of 24 cents per share.” On Nov. 17, the Astro-Med board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of 6 cents per share, payable Jan. 2 to shareholders of record on Dec. 12.
Year-to-date net income fell 9.03 percent to $2.701 million, from $2.969 million in the first three quarters of 2007, as net sales fell 3.52 percent to $56.152 million, the company said. Earnings per diluted share dipped to 36 cent from the year-ago 39 cents.
The company invited investors to take listen in on today’s 11 a.m. conference call, by dialing (800) 257-7087 or visiting www.Astro-MedInc.com/webcast. A recording of the call will be available online for up to five days after the event.
Astro-Med Inc. (Nasdaq: ALOT) is a maker of specialty printing, testing and measurement systems for the aviation industry and other industrial, scientific and medical applications. Additional information is available at www.Astro-MedInc.com.
