ARMSTRONG, Iowa, — Art's Way Mfg., an international manufacturer and distributor of equipment serving agricultural, research and steel cutting needs, announced its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2019.

Consolidated corporate sales for continuing operations for the 3 month period ended Feb. 28, 2019 were $4,124,000 compared to $5,366,000 during the same period in fiscal 2018, a decrease of $1,242,000, or 23.1%. According to Art’s Way managers, the decrease in revenue is due to decreased demand across the grinder, manure spreader and OEM blower product lines and the liquidation of the company’s Canadian subsidiary from its agricultural products segment. Some of the declining demand was due to economic factors such as commodity prices and price increases that were because of increased material costs, mainly steel. Also, in 2018 Art’s Way sold off aged manure spreader inventory at decreased margins, which led to decreased sales of manure spreaders in 2019.  

Consolidated gross margin for the 3-month period was 14.7% compared to 20.9% for the same period in fiscal 2018. The decreased gross margin is attributable to less revenue available to cover fixed overhead from its agricultural products and tools segments. 

Consolidated net loss from continuing operations before income taxes was $781,000 for the 3 month period compared to net loss from continuing operations before income taxes of $306,000 for the same period in fiscal 2018. The increased net loss from continuing operations is primarily due to less revenue available to covered fixed costs in the agricultural products and tools segments.