News

SL Industries Reports First-Quarter Revenue Increase

May 09, 2000 by Jeff Shepard

SL Industries Inc. (Mt. Laurel, NJ) announced a 45-percent increase in revenue for the first quarter, ending on March 31, 2000. SL's first-quarter results of $43,537,000 has set a new record for the period. Net income for the first period was $548,000 or $0.09 per diluted share, which included a $24,000 restructuring charge.

These results compare to a revenue of $30,067,000 and a net income of $1,524,000, or $0.36 per diluted share, for the same period a year earlier.

"We are both pleased and disappointed with SL's first-quarter results," said Owen Farren, president and CEO, "The record revenue and bookings are the result of both internal growth and the contributions made by our recent acquisitions. We also are pleased by our progress in penetrating new accounts in the rapidly growing telecommunications industry with our expanding line of power and data quality equipment. We are disappointed by the decline in operating profit, which was primarily due to the performance of SL Waber. The good news is that we are confident that operating profit at SL Waber will improve as the year progresses."

Last September, SL Industries announced plans to introduce new products and to streamline SL Waber to refocus the business on higher-margin opportunities to supply power-protection systems to major service providers and equipment manufacturers, according to Farren. Production has begun on new products and the company has expanded into telecommunication and enclosure markets, according to Farren.

"Business has continued to grow in each of our other operating units and major markets compared to last year. We are benefiting from our continued investments in new product development, increased penetration of applications with most major customers and in the recovery in global markets," said Farren.

According to Farren, the businesses that SL Industries acquired last year are performing better than anticipated. RFL Electronics is exceeding profitability and has product developments underway in utility applications. Todd Products was integrated into SL's power supply business unit, Condor DC Power Supplies, last year.

SL recently released their new Compact PCI power supply.