Miller Industries, Inc., boosted its sales and profits during 2018 as the Chattanooga-based towing equipment maker capitalized on plant expansions completed last year in Ooltewah and Greeneville, Tennessee and Hermitage, Pennsylvania, along with ongoing cost controls.
Miller said Wednesday its fourth quarter net income rose 16.2 percent over a year ago to $10.8 million, or 95 cents per share, on sales of $180 million. Sales in the final three months of 2018 were up 12.7 percent from a year earlier due to increased production capacity and the overall improving economy.
For all of 2018, Miller boosted net income by 46.6 percent to $33.7 million, or $2.96 per share, on sales that grew by 15.7 percent to $711.7 million.
"Performance in the fourth quarter continued to be strong," said Jeffrey I. Badgley, co-chief executive for Miller Industries. "Revenue growth continues to benefit from increases in production capacity, as well as a favorable economic environment. We continued to achieve significant profitability improvement this quarter due to continued efforts to control costs, allowing a gross margin expansion of over 70 basis points year-over-year."
Badgley said "economic conditions in all of our end-markets remain healthy" and he said "investments will continue to create shareholder value" in the year ahead.
Miller's board of directors today declared a quarterly cash dividend of 18 cents per share, payable March 25 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 18, 2019.
Miller's stock closed Wednesday ahead of the earnings announcement at $34.16 per share, which is up 26.5 percent so far this year and nearly 40 percent above the stock price for the company a year ago.