Dear Fellow Shareholder
Despite some of the most difficult global economic conditions in recent memory, Met-Pro Corporation did not waiver from its commitment to create long-term sustainable value for our shareholders by strengthening and better positioning our organization for future growth. For fiscal 2010, we sustained profitability, generated record cash flows from operating activities and strengthened our balance sheet while also preparing for an eventual global economic recovery. We continued to manage our business and deploy cash consistent with our strategy and long-term objectives, while sustaining our R&D budgets, investing in additional efficiency initiatives, and expanding our global reach. Met-Pro ended the year a much stronger and more competitive company.
Our financial performance during fiscal 2010 reflects the effects of the slowdown in global economic activity that began more than a year ago, as both sales and earnings were down versus last fiscal year. Net sales for fiscal 2010 were $80.1 million, down 22% from last fiscal year. Fortunately, the operational improvements and increased flexibility implemented over the past few years enabled us to quickly adjust our cost structure to reflect current activity levels. As a result our gross margin for the fiscal year came in at a relatively stable 34.2%, compared with 34.9% in fiscal 2009. Net income for fiscal 2010 totaled $4.4 million, or $0.30 per fully diluted share, down from $9.9 million, or $0.65 per fully diluted share, for the prior fiscal year.
During fiscal 2010, we were able to generate a record $15.6 million in cash flows from operating activities and close the year with a record year end cash balance of $31.4 million. Our strong financial condition allowed us to extend our record of paying our shareholders a cash or stock dividend to thirty-five consecutive years.
Over the past several years, the significant improvements in operational efficiency have strengthened our competitive positioning and contributed meaningfully to our return objectives. Lean enterprise processes have now been implemented at a number of our businesses and are being rolled out to additional Met-Pro operations.
During fiscal 2010, we completed a major organizational improvement when we consolidated our Duall, Flex-Kleen and Met-Pro Systems business units into the newly formed Met-Pro Environmental Air Solutions. The creation of Met-Pro Environmental Air Solutions is our most ambitious endeavor in our continual effort to better leverage our extensive resources for both top and bottom line improvement by consolidating and simplifying our organizational structure. We’ve implemented a number of consolidations over the past few years, and in combination with our lean enterprise programs, they have improved our competitive positioning and profitability by better utilizing our capacity and reducing our overall cost structure. Through Met-Pro Environmental Air Solutions, customers can now rely on an experienced single source for increased engineering and project management capabilities, total solutions to their complex emission requirements, and outstanding field service, installation, and project responsibility. The synergies created by the formation of Met-Pro Environmental Air Solutions will help us gain market share, especially in markets where we currently have limited or no presence.
These operational improvements provide an increasingly competitive platform from which our diverse and synergistic products can address the growing needs around the world to meet more stringent air and water emission regulations, reduce energy consumption and employ “green” technology. Existing technologies will need to keep pace with an increasing number of more stringent regulations, which will lead to strong demand for our wide range of air and water technologies. At the same time, the focus on green technology and energy efficiency means better product performance must also be sensitive to energy prices and the overall environment. While the freeze in capital spending that gripped the economy over the last two years postponed many projects, it did not stop regulators and other groups from pushing forward various “green” agendas. Consequently, as these projects come back onto the market, businesses will increasingly be searching for partners that can help them bridge the gap between their existing technologies and the more stringent requirements they will need to meet. This will create exciting opportunities for Met-Pro.
Our strategy continues to be to capitalize on global niche-oriented growth opportunities where we can provide customers with solutions and products of significant value. Through our more streamlined organization, we have freed additional resources to pursue more “strategic selling.” We are directing both technical and managerial resources to initiate and broaden their dialogue and build stronger relationships with new and existing customers across our various product lines. By taking a more proactive approach to understanding customer needs, we believe we can gain a competitive advantage by helping customers develop more effective solutions through better use of our extensive knowledge and expertise.