Staff File Photo by John Rawlston
Richard Beene prepares a portable surge bin for shipment at Astec Industries.Astec Industries boosted third quarter sales by more than 20 percent this year, helping the Chattanooga-based asphalt equipment maker to report a 6.3 percent gain in net income.
Asec said today it earned $7.7 million, or 34 cents per share, on revenues of $214.6 million in the three months ended Sept. 30. In the same period a year ago, Astec earned $7.4 million, or 32 cents per share, on revenues of $177.9 million.
"Considering the overall condition of the domestic economy and the uncertainty in Washington, we continue to be pleased with the company's performance," Astec CEO J. Don Brock said in a statement today. "We believe during the next six months, we may see a new, enhanced six-year highway bill which should give more certainty to our domestic customers and hopefully we will see continued improvement in domestic business."
During the summer quarter, Astec completed a $3 million acquisition in Germany, added $7 million of new facilities in Australia and Germany and signed a manufacturing joint venture agreement in Brazil which will result in an initial investment of $12 million. Brock also said today that in late September Astec was awarded a contract to supply asphalt plants to the U.S. Army that could amount to $89 million in sales over the next five years.