WEST WARWICK – Astro-Med Inc. (Nasdaq: ALOT) has posted record sales for the fiscal year and fourth quarter ended Jan. 31.

The maker of specialty printers and other scientific, technical and medical instruments posted a full-year profit of $4.31 million – a 28.8-percent decline from the year-ago $6.06 million, which included a $5.25 million gain from the sale of real estate – on sales that rose 10.5 percent to $72.37 million. Earnings per diluted share fell to 57 cents from the previous year’s 82 cents.

Results for the fiscal year just ended included a one-time tax benefit of $1.18 million or 15 cents per diluted share from the favorable resolution of certain income-tax examinations; a fourth-quarter tax benefit of $739,000 or 10 cents per share, related to the closing of the company’s sales and service offices in Italy and the Netherlands; and a fourth-quarter restructuring charge of about $316,000 or 4 cents per share.

Favorable foreign exchange rates boosted the year’s total sales by about $1.27 million.

“Customer demand was healthy with new orders reaching $74.393 million, an increase of 11.4 percent over the previous year,” Everett V. Pizzuti, Astro-Med’s president and chief operating officer, said in the after-market report. “Likewise, sales were strong, with a year-over-year increase of 10.5 percent.

“Gross profit margins were solid,” Pizzuti said. “We achieved a profit margin of 43.0 percent and our earnings per diluted share rose 24 percent year-over-year, on a pro forma basis ....

“Our year-end balance sheet remains solid with a cash position of $17.556 million, including marketable securities; a current ratio of 5.4:1; no debt; and a book value of $7.16 per share.

“As we enter the new year, we are optimistic that it will be another successful year with continued growth and improved profitability."

For the quarter ended Jan. 31, the company posted earnings of $1.34 million – an increase of 67.7 percent from year-ago quarter’s $799,000 – on sales that rose 3.2 percent to a record $18.13 million. Earnings per diluted share increased to 18 cents from the year-ago 11 cents.

“Our QuickLabel Systems product line continued its double-digit growth rate in the fourth quarter with sales of $9.648 million, an increase of 16.6 percent over the prior year,” Pizzuti said.

“Test and Measurement product sales were slightly lower than last year at $4.081 million; however, new orders, including our very successful line of airborne cockpit printers, were especially strong, up 38 percent in the quarter from the previous year. We continue to receive strong new orders for our cockpit printers, which will be installed on nearly all recently announced passenger and military aircraft, including the Airbus A380, the Boeing 787 and several other airplanes which will soon go into service.

“Sales of our Grass Technologies product line were $4.401 million in the quarter, lower than the prior year, as clinical sleep labs deferred PSG System purchases until the [U.S.] Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced their decision regarding reimbursement of home sleep testing.

“We were pleased to learn just last Friday that CMS has decided to reimburse physicians and laboratories for home sleep tests performed with sleep screeners similar to those made by Astro-Med," Pizzuti said.

Albert W. Ondis, the company’s chairman and CEO, said he was “particularly gratified to announce that Astro-Med’s financial results were quite strong for the entire fiscal year, a period which saw a mild economic downturn in many sectors of the economy.

“Our years of investing in R&D and increasing our capacity for high-end, on-site manufacturing – as part of a profitable mix which includes low-end outsourced parts – has put Astro-Med in a different position than many other American manufacturers,” he said.

On Monday, the company’s directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 6 cents per share – up from the previous 5 cents per share – payable April 1 to shareholders of record on March 21.

Astro-Med Inc. (Nasdaq: ALOT) is a maker of specialty printing, testing and measurement systems for industrial, scientific and medical applications. Additional information is available at www.astro-medinc.com.