Acquisition helps Balchem results
sales and profits in the second quarter of the year.
Balchem, the company which provides nutritional products for human and animal consumption, has reported second quarter sales of $15.7 million, up 53.8 per cent from $10.2 million a year earlier and a new record for the second three months of the year.
During the same period, operating profits rose by an impressive 98.9 per cent to $3.6 million from $1.8 million a year earlier, another record.
Balchem attributed the improvement in sales and profits to growth in its core business segments and the effect of an acquisition in June 2001.
For the first six months of the year, sales were $30 million, up 65 per cent from $18.1 million in 2001, while operating profits were $6.1 million compared to $3.3 million.
Sales of the core encapsulates business increased 60.8 per cent in the quarter based on growth in the domestic food, animal nutrition and industrial application markets. When combined with sales of human choline products (a new business line resulting from the 2001 acquisition), the division showed growth of 94.9 per cent to $7.8 million.
The group's ARC Specialty Products unit generated sales of $5.5 million, up 1.0 per cent over the comparable period in 2001, while the sales of unencapsulated feed supplements (again part of the acquired business) were $2.4 million. This latter unit specialises in producing choline additives for the poultry and swine industries as well as industrial choline derivative products.
