AERT Squeaks Out Small Quarterly Profit

Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies, Inc. reported a $200,000 third quarter profit — not big, but better than its $700,000 net loss one year ago.

Improving sales boosted the Springdale-based recycling manufacturer.

For the quarter ended September 30, 2011 AERT posted sales of $17.8 million, up 10% from $16.2 million, for the third quarter of 2010. The sales increase was primarily driven by additional customers. Company officials also noted that margins improved due to lower overhead from staff reductions and property insurance costs.

“Our AERT team continues to focus on streamlining AERT’s cost structure while positioning for future growth opportunities during this difficult economic time in our industry. The supply chain inventory of ChoiceDek(R) premium product was reduced significantly through the quarter. This inventory reduction resulted in lower sales for AERT yet POS sales of ChoiceDek(R) remained consistent with last year. Phase II of our Watts, OK recycling facility is very close to start-up and we have third party customers awaiting the introduction of our new line of recycled plastic ‘green’ resins,” said Joe G. Brooks, CEO of AERT.