Eastern Co., Chemtura report on first quarter

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First-quarter earnings for The Eastern Co., the Naugatuck-based maker of industrial hardware, security products and metal castings, declined markedly due to “challenging economic conditions,” President and CEO August Vlak said.

The company April 29 reported net income of $648,000, or 10 cents per diluted share, for the quarter, down 26 percent from $874,000, or 14 cents per diluted share, a year earlier.

Net sales declined 7.7 percent to $33.1 million from $36.9 million a year earlier.

Chemtura, the Philadelphia-based specialty chemical maker with about 450 workers at its former headquarters in Middlebury and its Nudenberg-Wheeler Technical Center in Naugatuck, reported a loss for this year’s first quarter, primarily due to a $162 million pension settlement.

The company last week reported net loss of $96 million, or $1.46 per diluted share, for the quarter, down 420 percent from net earnings of $21 million, or 30 cents per diluted share, a year earlier.

Net sales for the first quarter decreased 5 percent to $414 million, from $438 million a year earlier, the company stated.

—Republican-American