Menomonee Falls-based Magnetek Inc. today reported fourth quarter net income of $373,000, or 11 cents per share, down from $1.02 million, or 31 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Revenue was $25.2 million for the quarter, down from $29.7 million in the same period a year ago.
The company attributed the revenue decrease to lower material handling product sales, which were down $4.2 million year over year.
“We experienced continuing softness in our end markets during the fourth quarter, particularly in material handling markets, which we believe peaked at least in the near-term in the second half of 2012,” said Peter McCormick, president and chief executive officer. “The year-over-year decrease in material handling sales is representative of continuing economic uncertainties, which resulted in a lack of larger project business for us throughout much of 2013. Despite the sales decline, gross margins exceeded 34 percent, our continuing operations remained firmly profitable, and we continued to make solid progress in reducing our pension obligation.”
For the full year, the power and motion control manufacturer reported net income of $3.1 million, or 94 cents per share, down from $12.6 million, or $3.90 per share, in 2012.
Revenue was $103.3 million in 2013, down from $114.3 million in the prior year.
Magnetek attributed the decrease to lower sales on the material handling products, as well as mining products, which were down 47 percent year-over-year.
“We continued to focus on organic growth, asset management, and cash flow during 2013,” McCormick said. “Conditions in our end markets were not conducive to growth, and we experienced uneven demand throughout the year. In response to the continuing slow growth environment, we implemented a number of actions in terms of pricing, repositioning, and cost reductions during our third quarter to better assure acceptable levels of profit at existing sales volumes. We also improved our asset management as the year progressed, and generated sufficient cash to fund near-term growth initiatives and meet our pension obligations. Regarding our pension, we contributed nearly $25 million to plan assets during the year in an effort to improve the funded status of the plan, and we made meaningful progress toward that goal during fiscal 2013, aided by asset returns and interest rates increases in addition to our contributions. The improvement in our pension should favorably impact our earnings and cash flow going forward.”
