Earnings at Special Devices Jump During 1st Quarter

Special Devices Inc., a Newhall maker of pyrotechnic devices for the aerospace and automobile industries, said its first-quarter net income more than doubled on a 44% increase in sales compared to the same period a year earlier.

Net profit for the quarter ended Jan. 26 was $183,000 compared to $83,000 a year earlier, while sales grew to $6.5 million from $4.5 million, the company said.

The gains were mainly attributable to a greater than threefold increase in sales by the company’s Automotive Products Division, which makes initiators that trigger inflation of automobile air bags in a crash. The increase was due in part to a large shipment of initiators in January that had been held in inventory since October, the company said.