CLEVELAND-Increased of sales of higher price-point products helped boost Hamilton Beach’s third-quarter net income to $5.3 million, up 29.3 percent from the third quarter of last year.
The small-electrics brand achieved this in spite of a 1.5 percent decline in revenues to $124.8 million in the quarter, which ended on Sept. 30. Much of the gain in sales of the higher priced products occurred in the U.S. market, according to a statement by NACCO Industries, Hamilton Beach’s parent company. Overall, the brand experienced lower unit-sales volumes primarily in the U.S. and Canadian markets, and a firming of the U.S. dollar against both the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso further depressed third-quarter revenues.
The NACCO statement said the company expects sales of Hamilton Beach small appliances to remain under stress through the end of this year and into 2013. “Hamilton Beach’s target consumer, the middle-market mass consumer, continues to struggle with financial and economic concerns and high unemployment rates,” the statement said. “As a result, sales volumes in this segment of the U.S. consumer market are expected to remain challenged, and retailers are likely to remain cautious.”
NACCO’s other housewares holding, the Kitchen Collection retail operation, posted a net loss of $1.2 million in the quarter, up from a net loss of $500,000 in last year’s third quarter. Net sales in this segment declined 1.4 percent to $48.2 million.
Overall, NACCO posted a 47.9 percent gain in net income in the quarter, to $38 million, on an 8 percent gain in revenues, which totaled $210.1 million.