Eltron International Posts 28% Increase in Profit

Eltron International Inc. in Simi Valley announced first-quarter net income of $3.3 million on sales of $30.7 million.

The profit, which was up 28% to 43 cents per diluted share, compares with $2.6 million, or 34 cents, on sales of $23.2 million in the first quarter of 1997.

“Compared to the 1997 first quarter, revenue increased in each of our major business groups,” said Donald K. Skinner, chairman and chief executive officer. “In an increasingly competitive market environment, sales of Eltron’s label printer line, including [to] United Parcel Service, increased by 47% in the quarter and continued to outpace historical industry growth. Sales to customers other than UPS rose by 22% in the quarter.”

Eltron shipped its 500,000th label printer during the 13 weeks that ended April 4, Skinner said.

In January, Printronix Inc. acquired rights to the bar-code verification business and the RJS name from Eltron for about $2.8 million. Net income in the first quarter of 1998 included a tax-affected gain of about $250,000, or 3 cents per share, from that sale.

Eltron designs and manufactures label and plastic card printers, as well as security printing systems. Major users are in the health care, retail, manufacturing, automotive, package delivery, financial services, security and government markets.