Brass Eagle Posts Strong Sales

Brass Eagle Inc., the paintball gun maker, said its fourth-quarter income had more than doubled on strong sales, beating Wall Street expectations, and executives forecast positive earnings into 2001.

The Bentonville-based company said earnings for the quarter ended Dec. 31, rose to $4.29 million, or 57 cents per diluted share, compared to $1.15 million, or 15 cents per diluted share, a year earlier. Net sales increased by 90 percent to $31.8 million from $16.7 million for the same period of 1999.

Wall Street analysts on average had expected the company to earn 42 cents per share, according to research firm First Call/Thomson Financial.

“Continued strength throughout the holiday season across all channels of distribution fueled our better-than-expected results during the quarter,” said Brass Eagle president and CEO Lynn Scott.

For the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2000, net sales increased 27 percent, to a record $86.8 million, compared to $68.2 million for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 1999. Net income rose to $8.7 million, or $1.15 per diluted share, compared to $8.2 million, or $1.07 per diluted share, for the year ended Dec. 31, 1999.

Net income for 2000 takes into consideration a onetime charge of $651,000 associated with a “strategic initiative.” The “initiative” was described in the company’s third-quarter report to the Securities and Exchange Commission as a termination of “discussions” with a “prospective buyer regarding the potential acquisition of Brass Eagle.” A portion of the $651,000 “represents expenses of the prospective buyer reimbursed by Brass Eagle as previouisly agreed.”

For fiscal 2001, executives said, the company expects sales to range from $103 million to $110 million and fully diluted earnings per share to range between $1.35 and $1.40.

Analysts polled by First Call expect Brass Eagle to post earnings per share of $1.30 for the year.