On Friday, Met-Pro Corp. (MPR) reported fiscal 2010 first-quarter earnings that rose 48.2% to $1.4 million or 10 cents per share from $1 million or 7 cents per share in the year-ago period. Quarterly earnings also matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
 
Met-Pro is a global manufacturer of product recovery and pollution control equipment for purification of air and liquids, fluid handling equipment for corrosive, abrasive and high temperature liquids, and filtration and purification products. The company has operations in the U.S., Canada, Europe and China.
 
During the quarter, Met-Pro’s revenues grew 13.4% to $22.3 million from $19.6 million in the prior year quarter mainly driven by robust growth in the flagship Product Recovery/Pollution Control technologies segment. The company’s order book also swelled to $22.2 million during the quarter from $18.9 million in the same period last year.
 
Segments
 
Product Recovery/Pollution Control technologies segment, which contributed 49% to total revenue, expanded 45.4% year over year to $11 million driven by higher sales across all products. However, Met-Pro’s Fluid Handling technologies segment declined 6.4% year over year to $6.5 million while Mefiag Filtration technologies division dipped 2.1% year over year to $2.4 million. Filtration and Purification technologies unit also slipped 11.8% to $2.3 million primarily due to lower demand for chemicals meant for treating municipal drinking water, and boiler and cooling systems.
 
Margins
 
Met-Pro’s gross margin grew by 13.8% year over year to $8 million, while gross margin rose by 10 basis points (bps) to 35.8%. The growth was attributable to increased sales and higher margins on Fluid Handling, Mefiag Filtration and Filtration and Purification technologies segments.
 
Operating expenses, as a percentage of revenue, declined 180 bps year over year to 26.4% primarily due to lower payroll and benefit-related expenses. Consequently, operating income expanded 42.9% year over year to $2.1 million, while operating margin grew 190 bps to 9.4%.
 
Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
 
At quarter-end, Met-Pro had cash and equivalents of $32.5 million, compared to $26.4 million in the year-ago period. Long-term debt-to-capitalization ratio at the end of the quarter was 4.6%, compared to 5.8% in the prior year quarter. During the reported quarter, Met-Pro generated $2.3 million of cash from operations and utilized $877,000 towards dividends and $227,000 towards share buybacks.
 
Zacks Consensus Estimate
 
The Zacks Consensus Estimate on Met-Pro’s earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2010 presently stands at 13 cents per share, which remained constant over the past 3 months. Estimate on the company’s earnings for the entire fiscal 2010 also remained unchanged at 48 cents per share over the past 3 months.
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