Mueller Industries Q3 Profit Down - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Mueller Industries, Inc. (MLI) Tuesday posted lower earnings for the third quarter, despite a growth in sales. The decline in net income, included a rise in cost of goods sold during the latest quarter.

Net income attributable to the company was down to $23.8 million or $0.42 per share, from $39.9 million or $0.71 per share last year. However, quarterly sales rose to $602.8 million from $528.9 million a year ago, driven by unit volume increases of 16.6 percent, of which two thirds came from acquisitions. Cost of goods sold stood higher at $521.3 million, compared with $456.3 million in the year-ago quarter. Commenting on the outlook, Greg Christopher, the group's CEO said: "...the residential segment of our business continues to idle along while improving at a modest pace, with housing starts likely to remain under one million units in 2014. A ramp-up in starts will accompany further gains in the U.S. economy."