Increase in specialty alumina sales boosts TOR Minerals' Q2 income

<p>Nasdaq listed TOR Minerals International, Inc. has reported a year-on-year (YoY) increase in net income to $87 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2016, up from a loss of $107 million the previous year. Increased investments and major capacity expansions in its speciality alumina division have paid off for the Texas, US-based mineral manufacturer.<br /><br />The company owes its comeback to the decision to shift focus from its loss-making TiO2 division. It had sought to strategically divest its synthetic rutile assets, which helped it to offset other cost effects. <br /><br />Highlights for Q2 2016 as compared to Q2 2015 include:<br /><br />&bull; Revenue decreased one per cent to $9.9 million<br />&bull; Net income of $87,000, versus 2Q15 net loss of ($107,000)<br />&bull; Diluted net income per share of $0.03, versus 2Q15 net loss per share of ($0.04)<br /><br /><img style="vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/TOR%20MINERALS.jpg" alt="News" width="523" height="100" /><br /><br />During the second quarter of 2016, gross margin increased to 11.9 percent of sales, versus 9.6 percent during the same period a year ago. Gross margin improvement was related to improved efficiencies and lower raw materials costs, which were partially offset by lower selling prices.<br /><br />TOR Minerals' operating expenses during Q2 2016 were $1.1 million, flat in comparison with the same period last year. <br /><br />&ldquo;Strategic initiatives to divest our SR raw material productions assets and continued investments in our specialty alumina and barium sulfate businesses resulted in a return to profitability during the first half, as well as substantial improvements in our balance sheet," said Dr. Olaf Karasch, Chief Executive Officer at TOR Minerals International. &ldquo;Our cash balance grew by $2.5 million and we reduced debt levels by $1.3 million during the first half of the year.&rdquo;<br /><br />"We expect that several new large-volume specialty alumina applications will be moving into production during the next year, and put the alumina business back on a double-digit growth trajectory for 2016 and for several years to follow," concluded Dr. Karasch.</p>