Lydall Q1 sales up 2.4%

First Quarter 2013 (“Q1 2013”) Highlights compared to First Quarter 2012

- Net sales of $99.0 million compared to $96.8 million in Q1 2012, or a 2.4% increase

- Gross margin of 21.6%, an improvement of 170 basis points from Q1 2012

- Selling, product development and administrative expenses were $14.8 million, an increase of $0.6 million, or 30 basis points, from Q1 2012, primarily due to new product development

- Operating income of $6.5 million, or 6.6% of net sales, compared to $5.4 million, or 5.6%
- Gross profit and operating income in the first quarter 2013 included $1.8 million related to a completed pricing negotiation and a non-recurring customer project
- Operating income in the first quarter of 2012 included a gain of $0.4 million from services provided under a license agreement

- Effective tax rate of 29.8%, compared to an effective tax rate of 25.8% in Q1 2012
- Q1 2013 included a discrete tax benefit of $0.5 million, or $0.03 per share, for the reversal of a liability for an uncertain tax position
- Q1 2012 included a tax benefit of $0.8 million, or $0.05 per share, for the reversal of valuation -allowance against foreign tax credit carryovers

- Net income was $4.5 million, or $0.26 per share, compared to $3.9 million, or $0.23 per share

Net sales for Q1 2013 increased $2.3 million, or 2.4%, compared to Q1 2012, primarily from higher sales volumes, and, to a lesser extent, a completed pricing negotiation. Net sales from a Q1 2013 non-recurring customer project were essentially offset by lower net sales of electrical papers products in Q1 2013 due to the divestiture of a product line in a prior year.

In the Thermal/Acoustical Fibers (“T/A Fibers”) segment, higher net sales of $5.8 million, or 26.0%, compared to the same quarter a year ago, were the result of increased consumer demand for vehicles in North America on Lydall’s platforms, a completed pricing negotiation and a non-recurring customer project.

This increase was offset by decreases in net sales volumes from the Thermal/Acoustical Metals (“T/A Metals”) segment of $1.9 million, or 4.5%, and the Performance Materials segment by $1.6 million, or 5.5%, compared to Q1 2012. Lower net sales for both segments were primarily due to economic conditions in Europe negatively impacting demand for Industrial Filtration products in the Performance Materials segment and automotive parts in the T/A Metals segment.

The increase in operating income of $1.1 million in Q1 2013 compared to Q1 2012 was primarily driven by the T/A Fibers segment which reported an increase of $3.9 million, partially offset by reductions in T/A Metals and Performance Materials segments’ operating income of $2.0 million and $0.8 million, respectively.