Transcat, Inc. (TRNS) has reported a 9.38 percent fall in profit for the quarter ended Mar. 25, 2017. The company has earned $1.43 million, or $0.20 a share in the quarter, compared with $1.58 million, or $0.22 a share for the same period last year.

Revenue during the quarter grew 17.02 percent to $38.45 million from $32.86 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 56 basis points over the previous year period to 25.44 percent. Total expenses were 93.33 percent of quarterly revenues, up from 93.23 percent for the same period last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 9 basis points in operating margin to 6.67 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $2.56 million, compared with $2.22 million in the previous year period.

However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $4.21 million compared with $3.52 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin improved 23 basis points in the quarter to 10.96 percent from 10.73 percent in the last year period.

"Our fourth quarter provided a strong finish to our fiscal year which ended with record annual revenue and net income," commented Lee D. Rudow, president and chief executive officer. “Our Service segment revenue increased 20% for the year and was driven by high single-digit organic growth. We closed the fiscal year with a strong new business Service pipeline and a substantial backlog of work-in-process. We expect to continue to build segment volume and drive operational leverage through our capital investments and acquisition integrations. "Our Distribution segment delivered another quarter of solid performance, further validating our strategy to diversify our Distribution offerings. We saw strong growth from our core end-user customers, primarily those in the alternative energy and U.S. industrial markets."

The company has spent $12.17 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $17.96 million in the last year. It has incurred net capital expenditure of $5.19 million on net basis during the year, up 27.54 percent or $1.12 million from year ago.

Cash flow from financing activities was $4.77 million for the year, down 34.01 percent or $2.46 million, when compared with the last year.

Cash and cash equivalents stood at $0.84 million as on Mar. 25, 2017, up 31.36 percent or $0.20 million from $0.64 million on Mar. 26, 2016.

Debt increases substantially
Transcat, Inc. has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $27.31 million as on Mar. 25, 2017, up 43.20 percent or $8.24 million from $19.07 million on Mar. 26, 2016. Short-term debt stood at $1.43 million as on Mar. 25, 2017.