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Mayfield Village, Ohio, March 9, 2018 – Preformed Line Products Company (NASDAQ: PLPC) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and the full year 2017.
Net sales in the fourth quarter of 2017 were $96.9 million compared to $86.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2016. Net sales for 2017 were $378.2 million compared to $336.6 million in 2016. This represents a 12% increase for both the fourth quarter and the year, compared to the same periods in 2016.
The U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) enacted during December 2017 adversely impacted net income during the quarter and for the year as a result of a one-time net tax expense of $5.8 million. The expense primarily relates to taxes on the Company's unremitted foreign earnings and profits and re-measurement of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities. This negatively impacted earnings per diluted share by $1.11 for the fourth quarter of 2017, and $1.14 per diluted share for the year.
Including the negative impacts from the Tax Act, net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2017 was $.7 million, or $.14 per diluted share, compared to $5.1 million, or $.99 per diluted share, for the comparable period in 2016. Net income for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $12.7 million, or $2.47 per diluted share, compared to $15.3 million, or $2.95 per diluted share in 2016.
Rob Ruhlman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “In our fourth quarter, we continued to build on the success we achieved across the globe in the first nine months of 2017. We attained double-digit sales growth in each of our non-domestic segments while experiencing competitive pricing pressure throughout these markets. Despite battling increased raw material and freight costs, our sales growth coupled with disciplined expense management led to our highest fourth quarter pre-tax earnings in the last five years.”
