Mine Safety's Bright Q4: Fool by Numbers

On Mar. 1, Mine Safety (NYSE: MSA  ) released Q4 2005 earnings for the period ended Dec. 31, 2005.

• Revenue increased 7%, blowing past analyst estimates.
• An increase in breathing apparatus sales provided most of the growth.
• Earnings grew 37% and EPS jumped 41% on fewer shares outstanding.

(Figures in thousands, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Avg. Est.	Q4 2005	Q4 2004	% Change
Sales	$229,730	$242,828	$226,465	7.2%
Net Profit	--	$24,177	$17,680	36.7%
EPS	$0.61	$0.65	$0.46	41.3%

Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q4 2005	Q4 2004	% Change
Gross Margin	38.88%	38.34%	0.54%
Op. Margin	15.73%	12.56%	3.17%
Net Margin	9.96%	7.81%	2.15%

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q4 2005	Q4 2004	% Change
Cash+ ST Invest.	$44,797	$76,545	(41.5%)
Inventory	$119,731	$124,846	(4.1%)
Accounts Rec.	$169,436	$157,824	7.4%

Liabilities	Q4 2005	Q4 2004	% Change
Long-Term Debt	$54,642	$60,841	(10.2%)
Accounts Pay.	$40,935	$40,705	0.6%

Inventories at work.

Cash Flow Highlights

Data not provided. (Yuck!)

Related Companies:

• 3M (NYSE: MMM  )
• Armor Holdings (NYSE: AH  )
• Ceradyne (Nasdaq: CRDN  )
• Lakeland (Nasdaq: LAKE  )
• Lacrosse Footwear (Nasdaq: BOOT  )
• Tyco (NYSE: TYC  )

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• Ceradyne Ascendant
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• 3M's Case Gets More Compelling
• Rocky Goes Down for the Count

Tyco and 3M are Motley Fool Inside Value selections. Mine Safety is a Motley Fool Hidden Gems pick. Tom Gardner and his team are always hunting for small-cap winners like Mine Safety, which is up 140% since Tom selected it in 2003. You can join in that kind of fun by taking a 30-day free trial .

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean.

At the time of publication, Fool analyst Andy Cross did not own shares in any company mentioned above. Fool rules are here.