Net Income Up 63 Percent at Brass Eagle

Brass Eagle Inc. said sales for the first quarter of 2001, which ended March 31, increased 38.7 percent from $15 million to $20.8 million, and net income rose 62.5 percent from $800,000 to $1.3 million.

Earnings per diluted share increased 54.5 percent to 17 cents, compared to 11 cents per share in the first quarter of 2000.

The Bentonville company, formerly known as Daisy, is the world’s largest manufacturer of paintball guns that are used in games known as “extreme sports.” The guns fire paintballs that splatter when they hit a target.

In a conference call after the earnings release, President and CEO Lynn Scott said sales are usually down in the first quarter of the year because of bad weather and because retailers usually spend that time deciding what products to order for the rest of the year. Scott said paintball games are most popular in the spring and fall, but he noted that sales are usually best in the fourth quarter of any given year because of holiday sales.

“We would like to move our company from a paintball company, as we are known now, to a broader-base extreme sports company,” Scott said during the conference call. He said “preliminary” ideas could include supplying products for in-line skating, skateboarding and extreme bicycling.

On March 5, Brass Eagle acquired $2.3 million worth of machinery and equipment from Nittan Inc., a manufacturer of CO2 jets. Brass Eagle has agreed to lease facilities in Batesville, Miss., to house production of these jets.

Brass Eagle sales for the year should range from $103 million to $110 million, and fully diluted earnings per share should be between $1.35 and $1.40 for fiscal 2001.

Scott said he expects fourth-quarter promotions with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville to continue as they had in 2000. He also said Brass Eagle was about to embark upon a “heavy schedule of advertising” that would continue throughout the year.