Lawson Products Inc (LAWS) has reported a 15.73 percent fall in profit for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2017. The company has earned $0.86 million, or $0.09 a share in the quarter, compared with $1.02 million, or $0.11 a share for the same period last year. Revenue during the quarter grew 7.04 percent to $74.62 million from $69.71 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 76 basis points over the previous year period to 60.15 percent. Total expenses were 99.05 percent of quarterly revenues, up from 98.32 percent for the same period last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 72 basis points in operating margin to 0.95 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $0.71 million, compared with $1.17 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted operating income for the quarter stood at $1.15 million compared to $0.16 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted operating margin improved 131 basis points in the quarter to 1.54 percent from 0.22 percent in the last year period.
“In the first quarter of 2017, we experienced a continuation of the sales and operating improvement that started in late 2016. First quarter average daily sales increased 7.0% year-over-year and also increased sequentially over the preceding quarter. These higher sales led to significantly improved adjusted operating results compared to a year ago,” said Michael DeCata, president and chief executive officer.
Working capital declines
Lawson Products Inc has witnessed a decline in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $50.58 million as at Mar. 31, 2017, down 6.52 percent or $3.52 million from $54.10 million on Mar. 31, 2016. Current ratio was at 2.26 as on Mar. 31, 2017, down from 2.51 on Mar. 31, 2016. Cash conversion cycle (CCC) has decreased to 68 days for the quarter from 151 days for the last year period. Days sales outstanding went down to 37 days for the quarter compared with 38 days for the same period last year.
Days inventory outstanding has decreased to 65 days for the quarter compared with 147 days for the previous year period. At the same time, days payable outstanding was almost stable at 35 days for the quarter, when compared with the previous year period.
Debt comes down
Lawson Products Inc has recorded a decline in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $1.80 million as on Mar. 31, 2017, down 19.37 percent or $0.43 million from $2.23 million on Mar. 31, 2016. Lawson Products has recorded a decline in short-term debt over the last one year. It stood at $1.80 million as on Mar. 31, 2017, down 19.37 percent or $0.43 million from $2.23 million on Mar. 31, 2016. Total debt was 1.32 percent of total assets as on Mar. 31, 2017, compared with 1.66 percent on Mar. 31, 2016. Debt to equity ratio was almost stable at 0.03 as on Mar. 31, 2017, when compared with the last year. Interest coverage ratio improved to 7.57 for the quarter from 7.04 for the same period last year.
Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
