Brown Deer-based Badger Meter Inc. has reported its best quarter in company history.
The company, which manufactures water flow measurement and control products, recorded net sales of $95.7 million, the most ever in any quarter.
Badger Meter also reported net earnings of $4.8 million, the best second quarter in company history, and a 40.3 percent increase over the $6.3 million net earnings for the second quarter of 2013.
The company’s diluted earnings per share rose to a record 61 cents, up 38.6 percent from 44 cents in the same period a year earlier.
“Our strong second quarter performance was driven by higher sales of municipal water products. Sales of residential municipal water products were up substantially and commercial water product sales also increased. These increases more than offset a slight decline in industrial product sales for the quarter,” said Richard Meeusen, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Badger Meter.
Meeusen said the company is seeing significant increases in sales of two municipal water products that were introduced in 2013. Sales of ORION SE two-way fixed network meter reading systems and the new polymer version of the company’s E-Series line of ultrasonic meters for residential and commercial applications continue to ramp up as they gain acceptance in the market.
“In the municipal water industry, the process from product launch to customer adoption takes some time. As a result, we are also encouraged by the response to our newest product, the BEACON Advanced Metering Analytics (AMA) system, which was introduced in January. Badger Meter was the first major water meter company to release a cost-effective cellular-based metering solution to the market. There is considerable interest in starter kits that enable utilities to test BEACON AMA prior to purchasing a complete system and the feedback from utility managers at the recent American Water Works Association (AWWA) annual conference was very positive,” Meeusen said.
“Looking ahead, with two strong quarters behind us, we are cautiously optimistic about the second half of the year,” Meeusen said.
