Shares of International Absorbents Inc. (AMEX: IAX) soared 57 percent today, escalating $2.30 to $6.35 on volume of 659,800 by mid-afternoon, tailing the company’s announcement of its first-quarter financials for the period ended April 30, 2007, this morning.International Absorbents sales grew 26 percent to $8.4 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2008, up from $6.6 million for first quarter 2007.
Net income increased three fold, to $623,000, or 10 cents per share, versus $142,000, or 2 cents per share, for the same period the prior year.
Gross profit for the first quarter was up 35 percent, to $2.8 million, compared to $2.1 million for the first quarter last year.
The numbers are impressive, especially taking into consideration the company was temporarily out of commission when it shut down to move into new production facilities in Ferndale, Wash.
“Pulling this off took a tremendous effort from the whole team. Our Georgia facility ramped up to a round-the-clock, 7-day operation in order to compensate for shutting down the Washington plant. Logistics, planning, sales, marketing and customer service all did a great job of coordinating with customers to ensure everyone’s needs were met at a time when we had near record sales and limited production capabilities,” said Douglas Ellis, COO of International Absorbents, in the press release. “It was an outstanding effort all around.”
International Absorbents develops, manufactures and markets patented, proprietary products for consumer and commercial use. The products are derived from recycled, renewable materials – allowing for the production of environmentally safe products applicable to retail/commercial pet bedding and litter, oil and hazardous liquid spill cleanup and control, oil and water filtration, and packaging.
