AERT reports increase in Q1 sales

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

AERT reported strong sales for the first quarter, up almost 45 percent year-over-year.

The company released earnings today that showed sales hit $21.8 million in the quarter ended March 31, up from $15 million for the same time period in 2011.

Springdale-based Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies has plants in Springdale and Lowell and manufactures building material from recycled plastic and waste wood fiber. AERT also has a plastics recycling plant outside Watts, Okla.

Company officials point to a new line, expansion of an existing line and an improving building and home improvement market as reasons for the increase in sales.

“We are excited with the consumer’s response to our new ChoiceDek Foundations decking sold exclusively at Lowes. The transition to the ChoiceDek Foundations line, begun in the fourth quarter of last year, when all the estimated costs were expensed, is essentially complete,” Tim Morrison, AERT president, stated in the earnings release.

Cost of goods sold, as a percentage of sales, decreased by 2.8 percentage points, reflecting lower fixed costs as a percentage of sales, according to AERT’s quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Operating income improved by $1.7 million in the first quarter a $900,000 loss in the first quarter of 2011. This increase is due to the higher sales volume and gross margin.