The gain came on a 9 percent increase in sales to $615.7 million and operating earnings that more than doubled to $53.7 million from a year-ago $20.8 million.
For the half, sales rose 8.1 percent to $1.14 billion, and the company posted net earnings of $17.3 million compared with a year-ago loss of $53 million.
The second-quarter improvement followed a first quarter in which the company narrowed its first-quarter net loss to $1.2 million, compared with a year-ago loss of $21.1 million. In its fiscal 2011, the company’s net loss grew to $55.9 million from 2010’s $13.4 million net loss.
In the company’s tech segment, which comprises convenience and security systems for residential and certain commercial applications, sales fell 4.1 percent in the quarter to $104.4 million from a year-ago $108.9 million, and fell 1.6 percent in the half to $199.7 million from $202.9 million.
The tech segment’s operating earnings fell to $1.1 million in the quarter from a year-ago $11.5 million, and fell in the half to $2.3 million from a year-ago $15.4 million.
The company also disclosed that the company-wide 9 percent gain in net sales came from “capitalizing on growth opportunities, particularly in the commercial and institutional sectors.”
The company also said it is “while we expect residential and nonresidential construction activity to be slightly greater than the levels experienced in 2011, we are cautious about the outlook for the remainder of the year,” Nonetheless, the company said, “we believe that we can continue to make operational and financial progress in this environment.
In other disclosures, the company said gross margin increased to 29.8 percent from a year-ago 27 percent, and selling, general and administrative expenses fell by $2 million to $119.1 million.
The company also announced that it changed its reporting segments into five new ones: residential ventilation, technology solutions, display mount solutions, residential heating and cooling, and commercial air. The tech segment was formerly known as the technology products segment.
