Air T, Inc. Reports Unaudited Second Quarter Earnings

MAIDEN, N.C., Nov. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Air T, Inc. (Air T) (NASDAQ: AIRT) today reported consolidated net earnings of $227,000 ($0.09 per diluted share) for fiscal 2013’s second quarter ended September 30, 2012 compared to consolidated net earnings of $593,000 ($0.24 per diluted share) for the similar fiscal 2012 period.

Consolidated revenues decreased $4,299,000 (17%) to $21,162,000 for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 compared to the same quarter in the prior fiscal year. This decrease resulted from a $5,089,000 (46%) decrease in ground equipment sales revenue. The majority of this decrease was due to a substantial decrease in deliveries to the U.S. Air Force this quarter compared to the prior year comparable quarter. At September 30, 2012, ground equipment sales backlog was $15.5 million, compared to $20.0 million at September 30, 2011 and $15.3 million at March 31, 2012. Our ground support services segment reported a $1,079,000 (55%) increase in revenues this quarter, driven by new customers and new stations.

Walter Clark, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air T, commented “We are disappointed by the level of sales at our ground equipment sales segment this quarter. In addition to lower sales to the Air Force, there has been a decline in domestic market demand for commercial deicing units. We attribute part of that decline to the mild weather in the U.S. last winter. We continue to focus on all aspects of the segment’s operations in an effort to improve the bottom line and have reorganized reporting lines and made personnel changes. This has resulted in further improvements in production efficiencies above what had been noted in the first quarter.”

Mr. Clark continued, “We are encouraged by the level of growth at our ground support services segment. While income was down for the quarter due to start up costs associated with new stations, this segment continues to add new stations and work and should show bottom line improvement in the last half of the fiscal year.”