Aerospace and industrial products manufacturer Héroux-Devtek Inc has closed out fiscal 2011 with what the company described Friday as its strongest quarterly results ever.
"Fiscal 2011 was a successful year on many fronts," president and chief executive officer Gilles Labbe said in release accompanying the results.
"We broadened our global reach by adding to our customer base and completed a strategic acquisition that met our financial objective of a 10 per cent accretion to profitability."
Mr. Labbe also noted that the company had won several multi-year contracts on important programs and, just after year-end, announced a new facility in Mexico.
"More importantly, Héroux-Devtek continued to prosper despite the persistent strength in the value of the Canadian dollar, driven by a more favourable sales mix and further efficiency gains," Mr. Labbe said, adding that all of the company's product lines had "solidly contributed to sales and operating income."
Quebec-based Héroux-Devtek said it earned fourth-quarter profit of $7.7-million or 25 cents per diluted share in the three months ended March 31.
That was up from $4.4-million or 14 cents in the same 2010 quarter.
Sales revenue was just under $106-million, up 28.8 per cent from $84.9-million in the prior-year period and included a $12.8-million contribution from its Eagle and E2 acquisitions.
Fluctuations in the value of the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. greenback reduced sales by $2.3-million, the company said in a release.
For the full year, consolidated sales reached $357.6-million, up 11.6 per cent over fiscal 2010 when sales were $320.4-million.
"This growth reflects sales of $45-million from Eagle and E2 and a $3.1-million increase in industrial sales, offset by an $11.7-million negative impact from fluctuations in the value of the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. currency," the company said in a release.
Currency fluctuations also had a $1.6-million negative impact on gross profit. However, Héroux-Devtek said the effect had been mitigated by the use of forward foreign exchange sales contracts and natural hedging from the purchase of materials U.S. dollars.