(By Balaseshan) Bolt Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: BOLT), a manufacturer of marine seismic data acquisition equipment, reported a 13% decline in quarterly earnings primarily due to the lower sales at its underwater robotics business.
Earnings for the second quarter were $1.70 million or $0.20 per share, down from $1.95 million or $0.23 per share last year.
Sales decreased 1% to $14.41 million, reflecting a 57% drop in its underwater robotics business, due to unusually high shipments of robotic vehicles to the United States government last year.
The Norwalk, Connecticut-based company said the decrease in sales at its underwater robotics business was almost completely offset by a 43% increase in its marine seismic exploration businesses.
Further, the company said its board of directors has approved a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per common share, payable on April 4 to stockholders of record on March 7.
"Although world economic conditions remain uncertain, particularly with regard to government spending constraints which could impact our underwater robotics business, we continue to be optimistic that fiscal 2013 will be another successful year for our company," said Raymond Soto, Bolt's chairman and CEO.
BOLT is trading up 0.19% at $15.43 on Thursday. The stock has been trading between $11.65 and $16.09 for the past 52 weeks.