WEST WARWICK – Specialty-electronics maker Astro-Med Inc. said its earnings continued to improve from August through October as the company weathered the double-digit decline in its sales this fiscal year.
Astro-Med posted a profit of $683,000, or 9 cents a share, in the three months ended Oct. 31, up 5 percent from the profit of $649,000, or 9 cents a share, the company posted a year earlier. Revenue fell 6 percent to $16.66 million.
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Astro-Med CEO Albert W. Ondis said he was “pleased with the measured progress the company has made,” noting that sales and earnings had improved quarter-to-quarter for two consecutive reporting periods.
Ondis also said the company is also sticking with a three-year strategic plan developed during the second quarter and finalized at a companywide meeting in June. The plan calls for “growth through internal development as well as by acquisition,” he said.
For the first nine months of its fiscal year, Astro-Med posted a profit of $1.04 million, or 14 cents a share, down from a profit of $2.7 million, or 36 cents a share, in the same period of 2008. Sales were down 15 percent to $47.75 million.
Ondis noted that the company has continued to spend nearly as much on research and development as it did last year – $3.57 million, compared with $3.68 million a year ago – despite the difficult economic climate.
“We will soon announce some exciting new hardware products for the Astro-Med Test & Measurement data acquisition product line, as well as our Ruggedized Products line of airborne printers,” Ondis said. “These new products will be released in early 2010.”
The company also has boosted its cash on hand to $23.94 million from $22.10 million at the start of this fiscal year on Feb. 1.
The board voted to maintain Astro-Med’s quarterly dividend of 6 cents a share.
Additional information is available at Astro-Medinc.com.
