Marine Products Corporation net sales decreased 33% year-over-year to $47.8 million in the last quarter of 2024 in a difficult year for the company.
The decrease in net sales was primarily due to a 39% decrease in the number of boats sold during the quarter, partially offset by positive price/mix of 6%.
Net income was $4.3 million, down 21% year-on-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin was 9.2%.
For the full year 2024, net sales decreased 38% year-on-year to $236.6 million and EBITDA margin was 8.9%.
The manufacturer of fibreglass boats says the results reflected cost control measures to mitigate continued soft order flow and the year-on-year sales declines became less pronounced as the year progressed.
“We were encouraged with our fourth quarter results after a very challenging 2024,” said Ben Palmer, Marine Products’ president and CEO.
We believe we are past the toughest quarterly sales comparisons.
Ben Palmer
“Our year-over-year sales decline in the fourth quarter was 33%, marking our smallest quarterly decrease this year.”
He added: “While we are not pleased with these results, we believe we are past the toughest quarterly sales comparisons and have seen sequential gross margin stability, with a slight improvement compared to last year’s fourth quarter margin.”
And he said that efforts to scale down production and to de-stock have been successful, however dealers still remain cautious.
Ben Palmer added: “We have managed our costs aggressively during this challenging demand period to preserve margins and will remain prudent with hiring and production increases until we have more definitive signals for improved demand.”
And he said that feedback from recent boat shows has been positive, with good attendance and solid interest from buyers.
“This has been a difficult year for the industry, but we are proud of our model year 2025 product launches and lineup improvements and our ability to exit the year in a very strong financial position,” concluded Ben.
