US glass producer Lancaster Colony Corporation 1 May reported net sales for the company“s third fiscal quarter ended 31 March 2001, increased 4% to US$ 272 million, compared to net sales of US$ 262 m…
US glass producer Lancaster Colony Corporation 1 May reported net sales for the company“s third fiscal quarter ended 31 March 2001, increased 4% to US$ 272 million, compared to net sales of US$ 262 million achieved in the third quarter of 2000. Net income was US$ 19,453,000, down 3% from US$ 20,102,000 earned in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Benefiting from the company“s share repurchases, basic and diluted earnings per share amounted to 52 cents compared to 51 cents in 2000. The prior year“s third quarter included a pretax expense of approximately US$ 5 million, or 8 cents per share, related to the bankruptcy of a specialty foods customer. For the nine months ended March 31, 2001, net income reached US$ 70,288,000 compared to US$ 75,795,000 earned in the corresponding period a year ago. Basic and diluted earnings per share were US$ 1.86 for the nine months compared to US$ 1.90 a year ago. Net sales were US$ 848 million versus US$ 845 million for the nine months last year. John B. Gerlach, Jr., chairman and CEO of Lancaster Colony, said, “We were pleased that our third-quarter sales reached a record high despite the unfavorable economic environment. While our operating results were disappointing in light of the sales increase, earnings for both the quarter and nine months were substantially impacted by record high natural gas costs.”