ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL – SigmaTron International reported fiscal second quarter revenues were $74.9 million, down 2.7% year-over-year.

The EMS company reported net income for the quarter ended Oct. 31 was $661,183, compared to a net loss of $723,941 for the same period in the prior year.

For the six months ended Oct. 31, revenues were $148.8 million, nearly flat with the fiscal quarter of 2018. Net income for the six-month period was just over $1 million, compared to a net loss of $1.25 million for the same period last year.

“I am pleased to report SigmaTron had a solid second quarter for fiscal 2020,” said Gary R. Fairhead, president, CEO and chairman of the board. “We posted a pretax profit of $977,289 on revenue of $74,855,312. For the first six months, we posted a pretax profit of $1,585,429 on revenue of $148,865,263. This compares favorably to the second quarter and six-month numbers from the prior fiscal years. As stated in our press release for the first quarter of fiscal 2020, we anticipated these results based on the trend going into the second quarter.

“These results were driven by higher gross margins, lower operating costs and reduced interest expense resulting from significant reductions in inventory. The inventory reduction also improved our liquidity provided under our bank line of credit. These positive factors were offset in part by continuing increases in cost of labor and some significant misses in projections by several key customers.

“We find ourselves heading into the third quarter of fiscal 2020 with less optimism and some negative trends for the first part of the quarter. There is no doubt the China trade war is negatively affecting revenue and operations, as the uncertainty and volatility caused by this trade war continues to impact customer sentiment regarding the overall economy. That, coupled with the usual holiday slowdown and customers trying to manage year-end inventory levels, leads us to expect a slower than anticipated November and December. However, we believe our business will bounce back positively in January and continue at a good level for the balance of the fiscal year. While that’s good news, the continuing overall volatility could change those forecasts quickly. Helping the positive trend from January forward are several new programs and customers that will be starting up right after the first of the year.”