Hurco Companies, Inc. (HURC) has reported a 37.49 percent plunge in profit for the quarter ended Oct. 31, 2016. The company has earned $3 million, or $0.45 a share in the quarter, compared with $4.80 million, or $0.72 a share for the same period last year.

Revenue during the quarter went up marginally by 1.01 percent to $66.35 million from $65.69 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 67 basis points over the previous year period to 30.14 percent. Total expenses were 92.29 percent of quarterly revenues, up from 89.77 percent for the same period last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 252 basis points in operating margin to 7.71 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $5.12 million, compared with $6.72 million in the previous year period.

Michael Doar, chief executive officer, stated, "Overall, it was a good year for Hurco Companies, Inc., considering the challenging market conditions around the globe. We achieved record revenues even though we did not achieve record unit sales, a testament to our commitment to expand our product offering to penetrate new markets with competitive and more complex technologies. We successfully expanded our presence in Asia, which I attribute directly to the acquisition of the Takumi brand. While we continue to be negatively impacted by foreign currency translation in Europe, our market penetration in that region remains strong, especially in Germany and France. We still see opportunities to further integrate the three brands. We plan to continue leveraging our assembly operations, component sourcing and distribution channels in an effort to realize even more economies of scale."

Debt comes down 

Hurco Companies, Inc. has recorded a decline in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $1.48 million as on Oct. 31, 2016, down 6.76 percent or $0.11 million from $1.58 million on Oct. 31, 2015. Hurco Companies, Inc. has recorded a decline in short-term debt over the last one year. It stood at $1.48 million as on Oct. 31, 2016, down 6.76 percent or $0.11 million from $1.58 million on Oct. 31, 2015. Total debt was 0.59 percent of total assets as on Oct. 31, 2016, compared with 0.64 percent on Oct. 31, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was almost stable at 0.01 as on Oct. 31, 2016, when compared with the last year.