26 Aug 14. Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: SWHC), a leader in firearm manufacturing and design, announced its financial results for the fiscal 2015 first quarter ended July 31, 2014.
First Quarter Fiscal 2015 Financial Highlights:
* Net sales for the first quarter were $131.9m, a decrease of $39.2m from the first quarter last year, primarily due to lower sales of long guns, including modern sporting rifles, which drove 87% of the first quarter decline. As expected, sales of long guns, including modern sporting rifles, were negatively impacted by lower consumer demand. Handgun sales showed continued consumer demand for the company’s small concealed carry polymer pistols and revolvers, although those sales were more than offset by lower sales of large frame polymer pistols.
* Gross profit for the first quarter was $49.1m, or 37.2% of net sales, compared with gross profit of $72.8m, or 42.6% of net sales, for the comparable quarter last year. While gross profit margin was favorably impacted by the company’s acquisition of the assets of its principal injection molding supplier in May, total gross profit declined as a result of reduced sales volumes of modern sporting rifles and related decreases in fixed-cost absorption, combined with three fewer production days versus the first quarter last year.
* Operating expenses for the first quarter were $23.3m, or 17.7% of net sales, compared with operating expenses of $24.8m, or 14.5% of net sales, for the first quarter of 2014.
* Operating income for the first quarter was $25.8m, or 19.5% of net sales, compared with operating income of $48.0m, or 28.1% of net sales, for the first quarter of 2014.
* Income from continuing operations for the first quarter was $14.6m, or $0.26 per diluted share, compared with income from continuing operations of $26.5m, or $0.40 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2014.
* Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDAS from continuing operations for the first quarter was $33.6m, compared with $55.2m for the first quarter last year.
* Operating cash generated for the first quarter was $10.8m. Internal capital spending totaled $14.6m, and the company used an additional $24.1 m of cash to acquire the assets of its principal injection molding supplier.
* Cash and cash equivalents as of July 31, 2014 were $83.5m, up from $68.9m at April 30, 2014.
(Source: Yahoo!/PRNewswire)
25 Aug 14. Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Sun Catalytix Corporation of Cambridge, Massachusetts, complementing existing Lockheed Martin capabilities in the area of energy management and efficiency. The purchase includes certain intellectual property, contracts, facilities and the transfer of the company’s approximately 25 employees to Lockheed Martin. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed and are not material to Lockheed Martin. Going forward, the operation will be known as Lockheed Martin Advanced Energy Storage, LLC and will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin reporting through the Corporation’s Missiles and Fire Control business area. The organization is an innovation-based company with advanced engineering and chemistry expertise in energy-related technologies and applications. The company has been developing an affordable, durable, safe and scalable energy storage technology. Current efforts focus on the design, synthesis and electrochemical testing of a novel energy storage chemistry derived from low cost, earth-abundant materials.
20 Aug 14. AeroVironment converts second loan into CybAero equity stake.
US unmanned systems manufacturer AeroVironment has converted a second loan to Swedish unmanned aircraft system developer CybAero into an equity holding, it was announced on 21 August. In December 2012 AeroVironment invested USD3m in CybAero through two convertible loans, each worth SEK10 million (USD1.5m). The first loan was converted into an equity holding in March this