Pall Corp. reports 4Q profits down slightly

Pall Corp., a Port Washington maker of high-tech filters, said its fourth-quarter profits dipped modestly as sales to aerospace and microelectronics companies fell.

Pall said Thursday its net income sagged to $85.6 million, or 75 cents per share, during the three months ended in July, down less than 1 percent from the same period last year. Overall revenue also dropped 1 percent, to $716.8 million.

"In light of continued economic challenges, particularly impacting our industrial business, we delivered solid results this year," Pall president and chief executive Larry Kingsley said.

The company's fourth-quarter revenue beat the expectations of analysts, who had forecast sales of $713.3 million. Pall stock rose less than 1 percent Thursday, to $69 .74.

The company, founded six decades ago by scientist and inventor David Pall, is among the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of filters that purify substances ranging from water to gasoline.

Pall has roughly 11,000 employees globally, with an estimated 750 on Long Island.

Revenue from the company's largest unit, life sciences, increased 6 percent during the fourth quarter, to $354 million, on higher sales to biopharmaceutical and medical companies.

But at Pall's industrial unit revenue from manufacturers of computer chips, microelectronics and other goods fell 7 percent, to $73 million. Sales to aerospace companies were down 10 percent, to $60 million, largely from falling demand for filters used in helicopters.

Pall's bottom line was also hampered by a $539,000 loss from discontinued operations, including a blood filtration unit the company sold in 2012. Those operations contributed $10.5 million to Pall's fourth-quarter profits last year.