Alpha Pro Tech reports Q2 EPS 10c vs. 5c last year

Reports Q2 revenue $16.1M vs. $17.4M last year. Lloyd Hoffman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alpha Pro Tech, commented, “The industry-wide housing market continues to be soft, due to a continued decrease in demand for new home starts as a result of interest rate hikes and economic uncertainty. In the second quarter of 2023, single family housing starts in the United States decreased by 14.5% compared to the same period a year ago. With that said, our sales of housewrap and accessories, which increased by 17.6% in the second quarter of 2023 from the prior-year quarter, continue to significantly outperform the market through market diversification, product development and sales team expansion. Sales of our REX Wrap(R) and REX Wrap Plus, our entry level housewrap products, were up 11.6% over the prior-year quarter, despite the major decrease in housing starts as we have continued to expand our network of new dealers across the country. Management is encouraged by our growth opportunities in REX Wrap Fortis, our premium housewrap line, as we continue to make inroads into the multi-family and commercial construction sector, evidenced by an increase of 18.9% in sales in the second quarter of 2023. We also experienced a 195% increase in sales of housewrap accessories, REXTREME Window and Door Flashing and REX(TM) Premium Seam Tape in the second quarter of 2023 over the prior-year quarter. Based on the number of jobs we are specified on and the potential for additional bids taking place, management expects that we will continue to see positive trends relative to the industry for both our entry level and premium housewrap product lines. Management continues to be excited by the trend in synthetic roof underlayment as sales outperform the overall market, especially as management expects to see an increase in sales as inventory is alleviated at the dealer and distribution level. In addition, we will be launching a new line of self-adhered roofing products, in late 2023, which we expect will bring additional revenue to our synthetic roof underlayment line of products. Sales of disposable protective garments in the second quarter of 2023 were up 7.6% as our channel partners and our end customers are working through their inventory and their ordering patterns return to normal. In addition, our sales improved as we can now meet face-to-face with our distribution partners and end-customers, something we have not been able to do since 2020. Face mask and face shield sales are still suffering from the COVID-19 residual excess inventories at the distributor level. Comparatively, sales of face masks and face shields were higher than normal during the second quarter of 2022 due to the ongoing demand for COVID-19 products,” added Hoffman.