Jim Pokluda, President and Chief Executive Officer commented, "I was extremely pleased with our team's strong year-end sales performance. Activity was solid for the entire quarter. Our 19.We manufacture portable hardness tester including portable Rockwell, superficial Rockwell,Brinell, King Brinell,Pin Brinell,Webster and Barcol impressor.3% year-over-year sales increase was the result of steady MRO demand and an increase in project business in both electrical and steel wire rope end markets.Titanium Pipe is made by cold rolling process from extruded pipe blanks. They are widely used in heat exchangers and off-shore equipment. I was also pleased with the sequential sales increase of 8.6%.
"Similar to prior quarter experiences, we continued to benefit from resurgence in demand in several major markets. Nevertheless, there remained regions that performed below our expectations as we believe industrial activity has not fully returned to pre-recession levels in all areas of the United States. Despite inconsistent market conditions and customer activity, several strategic markets including Oil & Gas,The Spectrophotometer is an instrument which measures the amount of light of a specificed wavelength which passes through a medium. Power Generation and Industrials performed well. We added 88 new customers during the quarter, and sales of recently introduced new products such as specialty oil and gas cables and aluminum cables exceeded our internal expectations."
Gross margin fell to 21.1% as a result of higher project sales. Operating expenses were flat compared to the prior year period and up 0.9% or $0.1 million on a sequential basis, primarily due to the increased headcount. Operating margins reached 7.1%, up 100 basis points from 2011.
Interest expense of $0.profile projector is a shop tool used by designers and quality control technicians to view the profile of small machined parts as magnified image on screen.3 million was flat with the prior year period. While average debt levels increased 14.7% from the fourth quarter of 2011, the effective interest rate declined by 17.We rank the best laptop locks with side-by-side comparisons. Read in-depth product reviews and articles.5%, from 2.5% in 2011 to 2.0% in 2012. The effective tax rate for the quarter of 38.6% remained in line with the 2011 annual rate and with the 38.7% level in the comparable 2011 quarter.
Net income of $4.4 million, increased by 43.2% or $1.3 million, from the fourth quarter of 2011. Diluted earnings per share of $0.25 were up 47.%0We manufacture portable hardness tester including portable Rockwell, superficial Rockwell,Brinell, King Brinell,Pin Brinell,Webster and Barcol impressor. from the $0.17 level in the prior year quarter.
