NAUGATUCK — The Eastern Company’s sales increased in the second quarter of 2015 and first six months of the year, but net income decreased due to one-time expenses.
The 156-year-old manufacturer of industrial hardware, security products and metal castings last week reported sales for the quarter were $37 million, up 7 percent from $34.8 million for the same period in 2014. Net income for the quarter was $585,000, or 9 cents per diluted share. That’s down from $1.7 million, or 27 cents per diluted share, from the same time last year.
Net sales for the six-month period ending July 4 were $73.9 million, a 5 percent increase from the $70.6 million posted in the same period in 2014. Net income was $1.5 million, or 23 cents per diluted share, for the first six months this year, which is down from $3.2 million, or 51 cents diluted share, compared to last year.
Eastern Company President, CEO and Chairman Leonard Leganza said in a statement that sales increased primarily due to the company’s acquisition of Argo Transdata Corp., a Clinton-based maker of printed circuit board assemblies for various industries, in December 2014.
He added Eastern’s composite panel production facility in North Carolina is producing sleeper cabs for Class 8 tractor-trailer trucks at a higher rate. The build rate in June was 4 sleepers per day, which grew to 10 sleepers per day in July and is anticipated to grow to 18 sleepers per day in the fourth quarter of 2015, he said.
Leganza attributed the drop in net income to the one-time expenses incurred during a proxy contest during the first half of the year. The proxy contest expense had a negative impact on the second quarter earnings of approximately 14 cents per diluted share and about 21 cents per diluted share for the first half of 2015, he said.
“No further expenses relating to the proxy contest are anticipated,” Leganza said.
