Transcat in the Black

Rochester, NY-based Transcat (NasdaqSC: TRNS), a manufacturer/marketer of testing, measurement, and calibration equipment, posted net income of $273,000 for the quarter ended Dec. 25. For the comparable quarter of 2003, Transcat had lost $220,000. Year-over-year net sales rose 4%, to $14.0 million from $13.6 million.

During the quarter, “we began the implementation of an enhanced level of catalog supplement mailings that will continue through the first half of fiscal year 2006, to identify and secure new customers in the process calibrator industry and other targeted market segments,” chairman/president/CEO Carl Sassano said in a statement. “The improvement in distribution products gross margin reflects the effect of an improving economy, which requires less discounting to close sales, and a smaller volume of lower-margin government sales.”