Hurco Companies, Inc. (HURC) has reported a 0.76 percent fall in profit for the quarter ended Apr. 30, 2017. The company has earned $3.65 million, or $0.54 a share in the quarter, compared with $3.67 million, or $0.56 a share for the same period last year.

Revenue during the quarter grew 11.90 percent to $58.22 million from $52.03 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 261 basis points over the previous year period to 29.32 percent. Total expenses were 90.80 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 91.03 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 23 basis points in operating margin to 9.20 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $5.35 million, compared with $4.67 million in the previous year period.

Michael Doar, chief executive officer, stated, "For the first time in our company's 49-year history, order levels have exceeded $60 million for three consecutive quarters. This trend combined with the order growth we are experiencing quarter over quarter and year over year, is encouraging for our company's future. Both orders and sales in the Americas and Asia Pacific regions have shown good improvement this year and the European region continues to be a strong contributor despite the negative impact of currency translation. Hurco is performing well in this dynamic and competitive global market, which means we are serving our customers well by delivering CNC machine technology that makes their businesses more profitable."

Cash conversion cycle (CCC) has decreased to 91 days for the quarter from 249 days for the last year period. Days sales outstanding went down to 57 days for the quarter compared with 68 days for the same period last year.

Days inventory outstanding has decreased to 129 days for the quarter compared with 295 days for the previous year period. At the same time, days payable outstanding went down to 95 days for the quarter from 114 for the same period last year.