Hubbell Inc., Orange, Conn., reported sales in fourth quarter 2004 at $499.7 million for a 12 percent increase over $444.7 million reported in the same period in 2003.
The company said quarterly income grew to $47.8 million, a 37 percent increase over $34.8 million, a year ago.
Timothy H. Powers, chairman, president, and chief executive officer, said that while the company’s accomplishments throughout the year were exceptional, there were challenges.
“The year was challenging as well,” Powers said. “Especially so in materials cost. The rate of cost increases was unprecedented. Metals like steel, copper, and aluminum had successive escalations in cost throughout the year. Oil, which exceeded $50 per barrel at one point, impacted freight costs, feedstock for molding plastic parts, and the cost of heating our facilities. All impacted margins of businesses within the power systems and electrical segments which have a high metal content in their product lines.”
In the electrical segment, sales improved by 12 percent and operating profit was level with the prior year. Sales at the wiring systems operations improved modestly and profits were even with last year. Electrical products reported higher sales and operating profits, but margin declined in the quarter chiefly as a result of steel price increases. Steel is the primary component of many of this group’s products — Raco switch, junction, and outlet boxes, as examples — and the cost of steel continued to escalate. Price increases on these products were announced to recover higher steel costs, but the lag between announcement and implementation of the product price increase — typically a calendar quarter — impacted profitability in the final period of the year.