NEWMARKET, Ontario (Aug. 11) — AirBoss of America Corp. recorded a 95-percent jump in net income in the second quarter even though sales fell slightly.
Earnings rose to $2.8 million from $1.4 million in the 2005 quarter. Sales decreased to $54 million from $54.3 million.
For the first six months of 2006, net income increased to $4.4 million from $2.8 million on a 1- percent improvement in sales to $108.3 million.
Revenues were impacted by the higher Canadian dollar and timing of military protective wear orders, AirBoss officials said. Profitability was up because of production efficiencies in the firm´s Rubber Compounding Division, improved product mix in its Railway Products unit and a lower tax rate, the firm said.
Demand for products servicing the energy generation sectors remains strong, AirBoss said, and because of that demand has been up.
However, the company cautioned, softening demand for rubber compound, rising commodity prices and uncertainty on the needs of the military protective wear industry have caused the rubber product manufacturer to take a more conservative earnings outlook in the second half of 2006.