Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based rail, construction and energy production manufacturer L.B. Foster Company announced Monday that net income fell dramatically to $700,000 in Q1 2011, compared to $1.8 million in Q1 2010.
Q1 2011 sales however, jumped 42.8 percent year-on-year due to strong sales by L.B. Foster's subsidiary Portec Rail Products Inc.
Stan L. Hasselbusch, L. B. Foster's President and CEO, said, "Our performance in the first quarter, which is traditionally our weakest quarter due to seasonality, was negatively impacted by expenses related to the acquisition of Portec Rail Products, Inc. and to our Grand Island facility."
Hasselbusch went on to say, "Our margins were not where we wanted them as they were negatively impacted by the Grand Island shut down, a weak precast buildings performance and a disadvantageous sales mix as distribution sales increased by 25 percent while distribution margins declined by 120 basis points."