William L. Kacin, chairman and chief executive officer of Met-Pro Corp., announced sales and earnings per share for the full year and fourth quarter ended Jan. 31, 2002.
Sales for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2002 were $70.1 million compared to $81.2 million for the same period last year and sales for the fourth quarter totaled $15.8 million compared to $19.4 million for the same quarter of last year.
For the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2002, both basic and diluted earnings per share were $1.01 compared to $1.26 during the same period last year. For the fourth quarter, both basic and diluted earnings per share were $.22 compared to $.34 for the fourth quarter last year.
Despite a softness in sales and earnings in the third and fourth quarters, the company's cash flows from operating activities for the year totaled $8.3 million compared to $10.0 million for last year. As a result, the company's current ratio increased to 3.9 from 2.9 in the prior year.
In releasing these results Kacin stated that, "Although our eight consecutive years of record sales and record earnings per share came to an end this fiscal year, we continued our record of paying dividends to our stockholders for the 26th consecutive year. As we mentioned at the end of our third quarter, like many others, our day-to-day business activity was impacted by the tragic events of Sept. 11. Those events, combined with an already struggling world economy, affected our results, especially in the third and fourth quarters. Our operations continue to have mixed results. Some Divisions are experiencing strong bookings and shipment months while others are experiencing temporary difficulty. Nevertheless, all of our operations realized a profit for the fourth quarter and our diversification continues to be a Met-Pro strength."
At $6.5 million, the company's January bookings firmed up and improved considerably over prior months and annualized bookings are running at a $78.0 million level, a much-improved situation over the $71.0 million booked this year.
Activity on larger dollar projects, both domestically and overseas, which for the past six months have been almost non-existent, has also increased and the company is optimistic about the prospect of closing some of these projects in the first quarter.
"Our financial strength is undisputed and our prospects are bright," concluded Kacin. "We enter the new year with every confidence that we have a good shot at returning to reporting record breaking results."
Source: Met-Pro Corp.
