Standard Motor Products Q4 Earnings Rise; To Buy Back Shares

(RTTNews) - Standard Motor Products, Inc. (SMP), a maker of automotive replacement parts, Monday reported a rise in earnings for the fourth quarter, on the back of sales growth and gross margin improvement.

Further, the company announced that the Board has authorized a share repurchase of up to $10 million of its common stock.

Earnings for the quarter advanced to $8.94 million or $0.38 per share from $5.91 million or $0.26 per share a year earlier.

Excluding restructuring and integration expenses net of tax, the company said its earnings per share from continuing operations for the quarter were $0.42. On average, 4 analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters estimated the company's earnings per share of $0.33 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Gross profit increased to $66.75 million from $57.97 million in the fourth quarter of last year.

For the three months to December, net sales rose to $151.96 million from $134.39 million a year earlier.