"Sales were down by $173,000, or 6% over the period year and net income, prior to discontinued operations, is down by $62,000 or 13.5%. Due to changing market conditions, the Directors of the Company have made a decision to discontinue the development of the automotive pint products line. A total of $100,000 of prepaid costs comprising mainly of licensing fees and materials associated with the automotive business have been written off. This charge has reduced the profit for the year ending March31, 2000 by a similar amount to $296,000, a reduction of $162,000 or 35% from the prior year's results. However, this has not impacted the company's cash flow for the year. Cash flow for the year remained at a healthy $540,000, marginally lower by $18,000 or 3% from the previous year's results.
Due to the introduction of MILLENNIUM paint in May and the launch of ACR+ in September, which is a reformulation of our popular ACR product line, we incurred additional expenses, which are normal when introducing new products into the market for the first time. These costs were expensed during the year in review.
Following a period of stable pricing, in September 1999 we implemented moderate price increases on our manufactured products in order to offset higher local operating costs and raw materials cost increases encountered over several years. These price increases were the first implemented on our locally manufactured products since March 1995.
With the closure of major hotels and guest cottages, sales have been impacted with the loss of sales to those accounts and delayed scheduled maintenance programs at a number of accounts has also tended to reduce demand for our products during the year.
We are pleased to report that we had no Y2K problems with our new computer systems and our raw materials suppliers have maintained normal delivery schedules and we experienced no supply disruptions.
The results we have achieved are due to the hard work and the level of service provided by all of our staff and to our technical capability and we extend our thanks to our staff for their efforts on (the shareholders') behalf. We also wish to express our appreciation to our loyal customers for
their continued support of our locally manufactured products and look forward to supplying their future needs. The Board will consider a final divined for the year ending March 31, 2000, at its meeting on July 11, 2000."
Financial Highlights
2000 $ 1999 $
Net sales 2,701,398 2,874,003
Operating Expense 916,377 907,927
Net Revenue from operations prior to discontinued operations 286,135 354,228
Discontinued Operations (100,000) -
Other Income 109,574 103,378
Net Income 295,709 457,606
Cash Flow 540,282 558,367
Earnings Per Share 0.68 1.05
Dividends Paid 437,000 437,000
Dividends Per Share 1.00 1.00
Total Assets 3,317,420 3,454,671
Net Assets 3,152,932 3,294,223
Book Value Per Share 7.21 7.54
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