NEWMARKET, Ontario (Nov. 30)—Increased sales of rubber compounds and continued growth of its military protective wear spurred improvement in AirBoss of America Corp.'s revenues and earning in the third quarter and the year to date.
Three-month net income rose to $702,278 from $100,757 in last year's quarter on a 29-percent jump in sales to $38.5 million. Earnings climbed to $1.9 million from about $1.1 million in 2003 while sales increased 11 percent to $110.3 million.
Rubber compound sales were up because a growing demand in the North American industrial and utility sectors, the company said.
Commodity price hikes in some key raw materials such as synthetic rubber, natural rubber and carbon black continue to exert downward pressure on margins, the firm noted, and the competitiveness of the marketplace is expected to restrict AirBoss' ability to recover the increases, it said.
However, AirBoss officials said the fourth quarter should show solid improvement over last year's fourth period.