United States. The manufacturer of commercial and residential HVAC equipment, Nortek, presented its financial report for the first quarter of 2012, which revealed a positive outlook for the company thanks to the performance of its product division for the commercial area.
"Sales in the commercial HVAC segment grew 39% from the first quarter of last year, outpacing global growth in the construction market," said Michael J. Clarke, president and CEO of the company.
Clarke added that "although the housing sector faces constant challenges, our technology products and the residential ventilation segment also had modest growth that offset the decline in sales of residential air conditioning products."
The company also reported an increase in net sales of 7%, which meant sales of US$522.8 million, compared to US$488.6 million billed in the same period last year. On the other hand, the gross margin increased by 27.9%, while in 2011 this figure stood at an increase of 26%.
Operating profit also showed improvements, from $1.9 million in 2011 to $24.9 million in 2012. On the other hand, administrative expenses decreased by US$3.1 million to reach US$110.1 million.
Finally, net losses were in the order of US$1.2 million, for a decrease in the value of each share of the company of US$0.008, a positive figure compared to the US$21.1 million for US$1.40 per share that was lost last year.
As for the future outlook, the company's management said it expects activity in the residential and non-residential construction markets to be slightly higher than the levels recorded in 2011, which would boost sales of equipment oriented to that sector.
