Sales up 17.7 percent for Chaparral, Robalo parent

Marine Products Corp., which owns Chapparal and Robalo, reported higher sales for the quarter on the strength of increased unit sales of its SunCoast deck boats, Robalo outboards and Vortex jet boats

For the quarter ended September 30, 2016, Marine Products generated net sales of $55,361,000, a 17.7 percent increase, compared to $47,038,000 in the same period of the prior year.  The increase in net sales was due primarily to a 12.5 percent increase in unit sales and a 1.7 percent increase in the average selling price per boat, the company said.

Gross profit for the quarter was $11,768,000, a 19.2 percent increase compared to gross profit of $9,874,000 in the same period of the prior year. Gross profit for the third quarter increased compared to the prior year due to higher net sales and slightly higher gross margin. Gross margin during the third quarter was 21.3 percent, compared to 21.0 percent in the third quarter of the prior year.

Operating profit for the quarter was $5,461,000, an increase of 22.6 percent compared to $4,454,000 in the third quarter of last year.  Selling, general and administrative expenses were $6,307,000 in the third quarter of 2016, an increase of 16.4 percent compared to the third quarter of 2015. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased primarily due to expenses that vary with sales. Selling, general and administrative expenses were 11.4 percent of net sales during the third quarter of 2016 and 11.5 percent during the same period of the prior year.

Net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 was $4,284,000, an increase of $1,181,000 or 38.1 percent, compared to net income of $3,103,000 for the third quarter of 2015.  Diluted earnings per share were $0.11 in the third quarter of 2016, an increase of $0.03 per share compared to the third quarter of the prior year.

Net sales for the nine months ended September 30, 2016, were $184,092,000, an increase of 17.1 percent compared to the first nine months of 2015.  Net income for the nine-month period was $13,023,000 or $0.34 diluted earnings per share, compared to net income of $10,461,000, or $0.28 diluted earnings per share in the prior year.

Richard A. Hubbell, Marine Products’ president and CEO stated, “Our third quarter financial results reflect a strong retail selling season and the continued popularity of our product offerings. The trends of the last several quarters continued with strong sales of our Robalo outboard sport fishing boats, particularly the Robalo 180 and 246 models, as well as our SunCoast outboards and Vortex Jet Boats. Within our Chaparral sterndrive offerings, several of our SSX models also sold well compared to the prior year.

“We held our annual dealer conference during the third quarter, and observed that our dealers continue to be enthusiastic about the recreational boating market as well as our 2017 models.  We are particularly enthusiastic regarding the Chaparral Surf Series, which we will soon be introducing to our dealers and customers.  At the end of the third quarter, our order backlog was significantly higher than at the end of the third quarter of 2015, and field inventories were higher than the prior year but lower than at the end of the second quarter.  We have increased production at the beginning of the fourth quarter in response to these indications of demand and in preparation for the 2017 winter boat show season,” concluded Hubbell.

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