America's biggest tow truck equipment maker hauled in bigger profits in the first three months of 2019 as increased sales and production boosted first quarter income by nearly 30 percent.
Miller Industries Inc., said Wednesday it earned $8.66 million, or 76 cents per share, on sales of $197.2 million in the first quarter. In the same period a year ago, the Chattanooga-based tow truck maker earned just under $6.7 million, or 59 cents per share, on sales of $159.2 million.
"We started off strong in 2019, with year-over-year revenue growth of 23.9%, reflecting broad based growth in our domestic and international markets," said Jeff Badgley, co-chief executive of the company. "During the first quarter, we continued to benefit from increased production capacity which has allowed us to meet the strong demand that we have been experiencing since the third quarter of 2017."
Badgley said the company's outlook "remains strong as we enter the second quarter, as economic conditions and demand for our product offering are strong globally, and we remain focused on reducing costs to help offset the effects associated with increased raw material costs."
"We are confident in our ability to drive volume through our more efficient capacity to effectively service our customer demand," he said.
In the first quarter, profitability grew by cost reduction with the cost of selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of total revenue down 80 basis points year-over-year to 5.2%.
Ahead of Wednesday's earnings announcement, shares of Miller Industries dipped by 11 cents per share to $32.45. But so far this year, Miller's stock is up 20.2 percent and the company's shares are up 22.5 percent from a year ago.