Wismer Posts Profit For Quarter

Wismer Martin Corp. announced a profit of $110,000 Tuesday for the third quarter of the 1996 fiscal year. Company officials expect a similar performance to close the year.

“If we don’t have any major sales, the fourth quarter will be pretty much similar to our third quarter earnings,” said Mehdi Moussavi, Wismer Martin’s chief financial officer.

Moussavi said the third-quarter performance was the result of refocused marketing efforts and improved productivity.

“We’ve gotten over the hurdle of making the operation a little more efficient,” he said.

For the quarter ended March 31, Spokane-based Wismer Martin had net income of $110,311, or 1 cent per share, on sales of $2.28 million. That compares with a loss of $824,000, or 9 cents per share, on sales of $1.98 million a year earlier.

For the first three quarters, the company said it had net income of $1.1 million, or 7 cents per share, on sales of $7.66 million. That compares with a loss of $1.48 million, or 15 cents per share, on sales of $7.83 million a year ago.

The 1996 earnings figure, however, includes $1.1 million realized through the settlement of a legal dispute with one of Wismer Martin’s major customers, Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska. In its accounting, the company treated the settlement, which apparently cost Wismer any future relationship with the insurer, as income rather than a one-time event.

, DataTimes