Lakeland Industries

Lakeland swung back to a profit this quarter, posting net income of 0.4 million dollars after losing 3.9 million dollars in the same quarter a year ago. Fire Services sales grew 11%, and management is still targeting high single-digit revenue growth and positive cash flow for the full year.

Lakeland now sells a fully certified head-to-toe firefighter kit, and big orders are starting to flow. Its Eagle unit was tapped for a UK government firefighter contract worth up to 220 million pounds over seven years, plus new orders across Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and the US.

Total sales barely moved, rising just 1.4% to 47.4 million dollars, as gains in fire gear were offset by a soft US industrial and disposables market. Gross profit actually slipped to 14.9 million dollars, so the recovery is still early and uneven.

This is a small company worth about 94 million dollars, and much of its promised growth sits in backlog and tender wins that have not converted to revenue yet. Management openly calls the next quarter a stepping stone, with the real improvement pushed to the back half of the year.