US firm Balchem, which specialises in encapsulated products for the health and feed industries, said it has achieved third quarter records in both sales and net earnings, following growth in both the ARC Specialty Products and Encapsulates segments.
Consolidated net sales increased 14 per cent, earnings from operations increased 55.8 per cent, and net earnings increased 64.7 per cent on the same period last year.
Balchem's Encapsulates segment, which provides microencapsulation solutions to a variety of applications, saw sales increase 38.6 per cent to $7.7 million, primarily due to growth in the domestic food, international food, and industrial application markets. The ARC Specialty Products segment, a provider of specialty-packaged chemicals for use in healthcare and other industries, generated sales of $5.5 million, up 3.7 per cent over the comparable period in 2001.
The Unencapsulated Feed Supplement segment, however, which markets choline additives for the animal industries, saw sales drop to $2.6 million in the 2002 quarter down from $3 million last year.
Consolidated gross margin for the quarter ended 30 September 2002 improved $1.1 million, or 21.6 per cent over the comparable prior period. Balchem attributed the improvement to growth in sales volumes, favourable product mix, and production efficiencies of the Encapsulates segment.
For the nine months ended 30 September 2002 sales increased 42.9 per cent, with net earnings increasing 62.4 per cent. In 2001, the company had non-recurring income of $0.3 million from the settlement of a class-action suit. This is included in other income for the nine months ended 30 September 2001. Excluding this non-recurring item in 2001, net earnings would have increased 77.3 per cent year-to-date, added the company.