OroAmerica Net Income Increases Sevenfold

First-quarter net income at OroAmerica Inc. grew more than sevenfold, to $1.15 million, or 18 cents per diluted share, from $143,000, or 2 cents per share for the comparable 1998 quarter.

Strong demand for gold and silver jewelry at the retail and wholesale levels helped push first-quarter sales at OroAmerica, a Burbank-based jewelry company, up 30%, to $42.5 million, against $32.7 million for the comparable 1998 quarter.

OroAmerica, which has manufacturing facilities in the U.S., South America, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia, designs, manufactures and sells a variety of gold and silver jewelry products.