NEWMARKET, Ontario—AirBoss of America Corp. recorded gains in both sales and earnings in the third quarter, continuing its year-to-date trend of strong performances in 2015.
Net income for the quarter rose 4.5 percent, despite restructuring and acquisition charges of $1.4 million, to a little more than $4 million from $3.8 million in 2014's third period. Sales improved to $77.5 million from $74.2 million in the three-month span last year.
Gross margin increased to 19.5 percent from 15.7 percent in last year's third quarter while EBITDA jumped 7.3 percent to $8.4 million.
AirBoss' solid third quarter performance reflects operational improvements across the company and the superior results within the firm's Rubber Compounding and Automotive divisions, it said. The compounding operation continues to show improvement despite the macro-economic challenges faced by some of its traditional markets and the resulting lower volumes, the company said.
Its Automotive business continued on its growth trend, due in large part to the ongoing strength in the North American automotive manufacturing environment. The unit's net sales increased 24 percent for the period.
AirBoss' Defense business showed improvement in the quarter, the company said, thanks largely to the acquisition of Immediate Response Technologies L.L.C. in the period. Nonetheless, soft global defense spending still is impacting the division.
Engineered Products' industrial goods operation continues to experience softness in demand due to volatility among many of its market segments. However, it did record a 21.7 percent jump in net sales for the quarter compared to the same period last year.
For the nine month period, AirBoss reported revenues of $231.3 million, up from $225.1 million last year. Net income fell slightly to $9.6 million from $10.1.