Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions). Your first question comes from the line of Paul Swinand from Stephens Incorporated.
Paul Swinand – Stephens, Inc.
Good afternoon, and congratulations on navigating this touch environment. First question was with handguns up 12%, I think that’s by my quick math $6 million approximately; tactical rifles up 30%, I know you’re lacking comps with the acquisition in January last year, something must have backed up. What particularly in the product line was weak?
John Kelly
Basically, Paul, what we had was pistol sales were weak as we talked about. We had two large orders last year for Afghanistan and California Highway Patrol. They total about $15 million, and that’s primarily the driver on the pistol side, which is about $8.5 million below last year.
Paul Swinand – Stephens, Inc.
Okay, maybe I’m misunderstanding then. In the fourth quarter though, handguns were up. Is that correct?
John Kelly
Handguns were relatively flat in the fourth quarter.
Paul Swinand – Stephens, Inc.
Okay, I misunderstood then, but was Thompson a net increase in sales in the fourth quarter, or was it year over year or just for the fourth quarter a negative comparison?
John Kelly
Thompson sales were down in the fourth quarter.
Paul Swinand – Stephens, Inc.
Okay. I’ve noticed like at retail you’ve promoted tactical rifiles, the Sigma and in some cases even the M&P, even though the retailers that we talk to are saying that those are all selling quite well. Is that just part of the normal cadence now, or why would you be promoting those if they’re selling well?
Mike Golden
Paul, this is Mike. We put the promotions in place late October to November that went through the end of April. It was a fairly strong promotion. We always are promoting products. That’s just the normal course of our business. What we have done going into the current fiscal year is that we are scaling back those promotions from what we had done during the third and fourth quarter, but it’s a conservative business and we do promote it.
Paul Swinand – Stephens, Inc.
So, it’s part of the normal cadence now, essentially?
Mike Golden
Yes. We’re watching it carefully obviously, and we’ll adjust it accordingly as we see the way the market goes, but even two years ago, we were promoting.
Paul Swinand – Stephens, Inc.
We talked about on the last conference call the synergies that you’re talking about now in Thompson. If I was trying to make a quick estimate on what the savings could be on barrels, is it $1 million that you could save next year, or you care to comment on that?
- To read the full transcript on Seeking Alpha, click here »
