2016 sales up 16.6 percent for Chaparral, Robalo parent
Net sales were up 16.6 percent for 2016 for Marine Products Corporation, the parent company of Chaparral and Robalo announced Wednesday.
Marine Products Corporation announced its unaudited results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2016.
For the quarter ended December 31, 2016, Marine Products generated net sales of $57,238,000, a 14.7 percent increase compared to $49,881,000 in the same period of the prior year. The increase in net sales was primarily due to a 13.6 percent increase in unit sales, as well as an increase in parts and accessories sales, partially offset by a slight decrease in the average selling price per boat, the company said.
Gross profit for the quarter was $12,203,000, a 9.8 percent increase compared to gross profit of $11,117,000 in the same period of the prior year. Gross profit for the fourth quarter increased compared to the prior year due to higher net sales, the company said.
Operating profit for the quarter was $5,234,000, a slight decrease compared to $5,420,000 in the fourth quarter of last year. This decrease was due to higher selling, general and administrative expenses during the fourth quarter of 2016 as compared to the prior year, which was attributed to higher warranty expense during the fourth quarter of 2016. Selling, general and administrative expenses were 12.2 percent of net sales during the fourth quarter of 2016 compared to 11.4 percent during the same period of the prior year.
Net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2016 was $3,722,000, a decrease of $123,000 or 3.2 percent, compared to net income of $3,845,000 for the fourth quarter of 2015. Diluted earnings per share were $0.10 in both the fourth quarters of 2016 and 2015.
Net sales for the 12 months ended December 31, 2016, were $241,330,000, an increase of 16.6 percent compared to the prior year. Net income for the 12 months ended December 31, 2016, was $16,745,000 or $0.44 earnings per diluted share, compared to net income of $14,306,000, or $0.39 earnings per diluted share in the prior year.
Richard A. Hubbell, Marine Products’ President and Chief Executive Officer stated, “Our fourth quarter financial results reflect a continued strong selling season for recreational boating as well as the appeal of a number of our successful models. Sales of our Robalo outboard sport fishing boats continued to be strong across this product’s size range, and our largest Chaparral H2O models continue to be popular. We were pleased with the favorable product mix within all of our model lines during the fourth quarter, and we note that our Chaparral sterndrive models recorded a slight increase in unit sales during 2016 in spite of preliminary reports that overall industry retail unit sales of sterndrives continued to decline year over year. Chaparral sterndrives continue to hold the largest market share within its size category, and our other product categories hold significant market share as well.
“The 2017 winter boat show season is underway, and attendance and sales at shows has thus far exceeded last year. Dealer and consumer interest in some of our new models has been very strong, and we are also enthusiastic about improving economic indicators including consumer confidence. Order backlog is comparable to the prior year at this time, so we are continuing with our higher production levels during the first quarter of 2017,” concluded Hubbell.
