(Source: MARKETWIRE)Escalade, Incorporated (NASDAQ: ESCA) announced that net income for the third quarter of 2009 increased to $618 thousand or $0.05 per share compared to a net loss of $1,365 thousand or $0.11 loss per share for the same quarter last year. Net income for the period includes a one-time benefit from the sale of equity investments which resulted in a gain of $432 thousand. The gain is a partial recovery of an asset impairment recorded in the prior year. Without this one-time benefit, net income would be $186 thousand or $0.01 per share. Net revenue for the third quarter and nine months ended October 3, 2009 declined 35.4% and 24.9%, respectively, compared to same periods last year; however, the Company has improved gross margins year to date to 30.7%, compared with 26.1% for the prior year. In addition, the Company has reduced selling, administrative and general expenses by 22.5%, mainly due to facility consolidation in the Sporting Goods segment and Company-wide cost cutting measures implemented over the past year, which resulted in improved Company profitability.

The Company's operating income for the third quarter and nine months ended October 3, 2009 was $612 thousand and $1,358 thousand, respectively, compared to operating income (loss) of $82 thousand and $(1,763) thousand for the same periods last year.

Sporting Goods net revenues this quarter were down significantly compared with same quarter last year, which included sales of Gameroom products to Sears Holdings not repeated in 2009.

Office Products experienced a further softening in net revenue for the quarter from 26.3% decline in the prior quarter to 28.8% decline in the current quarter. Compared to last year, Office Products net revenue declined 28.8% and 25.0% for the three and nine months ended October 3, 2009, respectively. Net revenue declined 25.9% in the United States and 24.2% in Europe for the first nine months of 2009. Excluding the effect of changes in foreign currency rates, year to date net revenue in Europe declined 21.5% compared with prior year.

Based on the year to date results and product placement information, the Company expects full year net revenue will be approximately 25% below prior year. The Company is continuing to identify and implement cost saving initiatives and product design enhancements to expand market share and improve Company profits.

"Our entire organization has worked hard to implement many cost savings initiatives, resulting in improved gross margins and lower operating expense," said Robert J. Keller, President and Chief Executive Office of Escalade, Inc. "These savings, combined with our focus on inventory reduction, has generated improved cash flow throughout 2009.