Marine Products Corp., the parent company of Chaparral and Robalo, generated record quarterly net sales of more than $87 million, a 21.7 percent increase, compared to nearly $71.5 million in the same period last year. The increase was due to a 13.3 percent rise in units sold, coupled with a 6.9 percent rise in the average selling price per boat.
Gross profit for the quarter was $19.47 million, a 19.6 percent increase, compared to $16.29 million in the same period last year. The increase is attributed to higher net sales.
Gross margin was 22.4 percent in the second quarter, compared to 22.8 percent in the same quarter of 2017.
Operating profit was $11.15 million, an increase of 27.8 percent, compared to $8.72 million in the second quarter of last year.
Net income was a record $8.99 million, an increase of $2.87 million, or 46.9 percent, compared to the second quarter of 2017.
Diluted earnings per share increased by $0.08 to $0.26, or 44.4 percent, compared to last year.
Marine Products Corp.’s effective tax rate during the second quarter was 20 percent, a significant reduction compared to 30.3 percent in the same quarter last year due to the federal government’s tax cuts, the company said.
Net sales for the six months ended June 30 were $164.5 million, an increase of 15.4 percent, compared to the first six months of 2017.
“Our record results this quarter were driven by sales of a number of our Robalo models and several Chaparral SSX, Surf and Suncoast models,” Richard Hubbell, Marine Products Corp. president and CEO, said in a statement.
“Our dealer inventories have increased slightly compared to the same time last year, although they have declined during the second quarter, as compared to the first quarter of 2018,” Hubbell added.
“In addition, we are pleased to report continued strong market positions in both our sterndrive and outboard sportfishing boat product lines,” he said.
For the 12-month period ending March 2018, Chaparral maintained its position as the largest sterndrive manufacturer in its size category, with a market share of 16.7 percent, Hubbell said.
In addition, Robalo maintained its market position as the third largest brand in its category, with a market share of 5.3 percent.
“During the quarter, we continued our historically high regular quarterly cash dividends and share repurchases under our open market share repurchase program,” Hubbell said. “In spite of these uses of cash, we finished the second quarter with $27.9 million in cash and marketable securities, an increase of $6.2 million compared with the second quarter of last year.”
