Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2012 Fully Diluted Earnings Of 79¢ Per Share

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE-RGR), announced today that for the first quarter 2012, the Company reported net sales of $112.3 million and fully diluted earnings of 79¢ per share, compared with sales of $75.4 million and fully diluted earnings of 42¢ per share in the first quarter of 2011.

The Company also announced today that its Board of Directors declared a dividend of 32.4¢ per share for the first quarter, for shareholders of record as of May 14, 2012, payable on May 29, 2012. This dividend varies every quarter because the Company pays a percent of earnings rather than a fixed amount per share. Effective with the dividend paid in March 2012, the Company increased the percent of quarterly earnings paid out as dividends by 67%. This dividend is approximately 40% of our net income.

Chief Executive Officer Michael O. Fifer made the following comments related to the Company’s results:

• Our earnings nearly doubled from the first quarter of 2011, driven by the 49% growth in sales and our ongoing focus on continuous improvement in our operations.
• New product introductions were a significant component of our sales growth as new product sales represented $40.8 million or 37% of sales in the first quarter of 2012. New product introductions in the first quarter of 2012 included:
  • Ruger American Rifle
  • SR22 pistol
  • 10/22 Take Down rifle
• The estimated sell-through of our products from independent distributors to retailers in 2012 increased 62% from the first quarter of 2011. During this period, National Instant Criminal Background Check System (“NICS”) background checks (as adjusted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation) increased 23%.
• On March 21, 2012, the Company announced that it temporarily suspended the acceptance of new orders. In the first quarter of 2012, orders for 1.2 million units were received by the Company, which exceeded the total units shipped during 2011. The Company anticipates resuming the acceptance of orders at the end of May 2012.
• Cash generated from operations during the first quarter of 2012 was $21.8 million. At March 31, 2012, our cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments totaled $95.8 million, an increase of $14.7 million from December 2011. Our current ratio is 3.1 to 1 and we have no debt.
• In the first quarter of 2012, capital expenditures totaled $3.0 million. We expect to invest approximately $20 million for capital expenditures during 2012.
• At March 31, 2012, stockholders’ equity was $149.8 million, which equates to a book value of $7.82 per share, of which $5.01 per share was cash and equivalents.
• On March 31, 2012, the Company completed the fourth and final quarter of its “1.2 Million Gun Challenge to Benefit the NRA.” During this year-long challenge, Ruger donated a total of $1,253,700 to the NRA. We believe that Ruger is the first firearms manufacturer to build and ship more than one million firearms in one year.

Today, the Company filed its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the first quarter of 2012. The financial statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are attached to this press release.

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