Polk Audio

This Baltimore-based manufacturer of high-quality loudspeaker systems reported yesterday that its earnings for the third quarter, which ended Dec. 30, dropped 32 percent compared with the same period a year ago."It's not a very good retail environment out there, and it's putting a pressure on our profit margins," said George Klopfer, Polk's president and co-founder. "The outbreak of war in the Persian Gulf has made things worse, and we are not looking for immediate improvement" in the numbers.

After nearly 40 years in the speaker business, Polk Audio is following music listeners from their living rooms and cars to their smart phones and their MP3 players. The Baltimore company is moving outside its comfort zone — speakers for home stereo systems and cars — with a new line of headphones, out this month. It is the first time Polk has sold anything other than a speaker or related accessory since a trio of Johns Hopkins University students started the company. Until now, senior vice president Ben Newhall said, "we've grown by adding a lot of different categories within speakers.

Polk Audio Inc., a Baltimore-based manufacturer of high-end loudspeakers, has teamed with a Colorado audio component designer to make speakers for "home theater" entertainment systems.Polk said yesterday that it will create a new company, Eoson, to make loudspeaker systems that will be sold exclusively by Best Buy Co. Inc., a fast-growing consumer electronics retailer. The announcement sent Polk's stock up 12 percent for the day, to close at $11.75.The Eoson speakers will be designed by Arnie Nudell, whose Genesis Technologies audio systems are aimed at audiophiles.

Polk Audio, a Baltimore maker of loudspeaker systems, said yesterday that it is introducing a new line of products. Traditionally a high-end electronics company, Polk Audio is hoping its new products will appeal more to the mass market. The products were designed with portability, convenience and access to the latest digital music sources in mind, said Paul DiComo, a spokesman for Polk Audio. "Our hope is to reach consumers that we haven't reached before by building products that are on trend with what's going on in consumer electronics right now," DiComo said.

Polk Audio, a Baltimore maker of loudspeaker systems, said yesterday that it is introducing a new line of products. Traditionally a high-end electronics company, Polk Audio is hoping its new products will appeal more to the mass market. The products were designed with portability, convenience and access to the latest digital music sources in mind, said Paul DiComo, a spokesman for Polk Audio. "Our hope is to reach consumers that we haven't reached before by building products that are on trend with what's going on in consumer electronics right now," DiComo said.

Polk Audio Inc. will shift most of its remaining production to Tijuana, Mexico, and lay off 34 Baltimore workers by mid-May, the Baltimore-based manufacturer of loudspeakers announced yesterday.The main reason for the action: Polk's U.S. workers receive an average of $14 an hour in wages and benefits, while Mexican workers get about $2 an hour."In Baltimore, we pay people American-type wages, and in Mexico we pay them Mexican wages," said George M. Klopfer, Polk's president and chief operating officer.

Polk Audio Inc. yesterday said strong sales gave the company more than a fourfold increase in quarterly earnings.The Baltimore-based manufacturer of home and automobile loudspeaker systems reported earnings of $741,925, or 44 cents a share, for the company's fourth quarter, which ended March 31. That's a 375 percent increase over the $156,054, or 9 cents a share, reported in the same quarter in the previous year."

Polk Audio Inc. will double its size and gain a major foothold in Europe by acquiring AGI Electronics Ltd., a British competitor in the loudspeaker market, the two companies announced yesterday.The proposed transaction will include the exchange of an undetermined amount of cash and Polk stock for the common stock of privately held AGI.The exact terms of the merger have not been ironed out, but a letter of intent was signed Monday by both parties, said George M. Klopfer, president and chief executive officer of Polk, which is based in Northeast Baltimore.

Polk Audio Inc., a manufacturer of high-quality loudspeaker systems for home and automotive use, yesterday blamed high production costs and a dip in revenues for a 63 percent decline in third-quarter earnings.For the three months ended Dec. 31, Baltimore-based Polk posted net income of $416,570, equal to 25 cents a share. This compares with a profit of $1,134,633, or 67 cents a share, in the corresponding period of 1994. Sales declined 5.6 percent to $13,120,046.For the first nine months, Polk earned $431,786, or 26 cents a share, from sales of $34,102,080.

At Polk Audio, quality is measured in infinitesimal degrees -- and pays big dividends.The woofer suspension, a flexible band that surrounds the sound cone and allows it to move back and forth with vibrations, is a critical part of an audio speaker.Most manufacturers make the suspension out of plastic foam, said George Klopfer Jr., Polk's president and co-founder.Polk Audio, in contrast, makes the suspension out of rubber available from one German supplier. "It makes the speaker much more sensitive.

Polk Audio Inc., a Baltimore-based loudspeaker maker that has transferred many of its jobs out of state, yesterday reported a 58 percent drop in net earnings for the fourth quarter.The company said in March that it expected at least a 40 percent drop in earnings for the quarter, which ended March 28.Earnings fell to $560,000, or 30 cents a share, compared with $1.3 million, or 71 cents a share, for the corresponding period a year ago. Net sales for the quarter were down 19 percent to $17.1 million.

Polk Audio Inc., a Baltimore-based maker of loudspeaker systems, said yesterday that it is going private, and will delist itself from the American Stock Exchange after it completes a buyback of outstanding shares.Polk decided to go private primarily because of its small stockholder base and its stock's infrequent trading activity on the exchange, Polk officials said.The company engineers and manufactures loudspeaker systems for the home and automotive markets. It sells directly through specialty retailers in the United States, Canada, Britain and Germany, and through distributors in about 45 countries.

Polk Audio Inc. yesterday said it laid off about 20 Baltimore employees as part of a restructuring that will move Baltimore warehousing, servicing and manufacturing jobs to San Diego.The restructuring, to be completed within 90 days, will leave Polk with about 100 employees in its Baltimore headquarters."I think our situation is that business conditions in our market have become difficult," said George Klopfer, Polk chief executive officer. "Quality and efficiency is more important than ever."

Polk Audio Inc. yesterday said strong sales gave the company more than a fourfold increase in quarterly earnings.The Baltimore-based manufacturer of home and automobile loudspeaker systems reported earnings of $741,925, or 44 cents a share, for the company's fourth quarter, which ended March 31. That's a 375 percent increase over the $156,054, or 9 cents a share, reported in the same quarter in the previous year."

Polk Audio Inc., a manufacturer of high-quality loudspeaker systems for home and automotive use, yesterday blamed high production costs and a dip in revenues for a 63 percent decline in third-quarter earnings.For the three months ended Dec. 31, Baltimore-based Polk posted net income of $416,570, equal to 25 cents a share. This compares with a profit of $1,134,633, or 67 cents a share, in the corresponding period of 1994. Sales declined 5.6 percent to $13,120,046.For the first nine months, Polk earned $431,786, or 26 cents a share, from sales of $34,102,080.

Polk Audio Inc., a Baltimore-based manufacturer of high-end loudspeakers, yesterday announced a restructuring of its operations and the appointment of a president.The new president, James M. Herd, takes over the day-to-day operations of the company, a duty formerly shared by Matthew S. Polk Jr., the chairman, and George M. Klopfer, the chief executive. Mr. Herd has been with the company for four years.Mr. Polk and Mr. Klopfer, founders of the company, will direct their attention to general policy-making and long-range planning, the company said.

This time last year, George Klopfer Jr., president and co-founder of Polk Audio Co., a Baltimore-based manufacturer of audio speakers, was -- by his own account -- skulking around London stores playing "mystery shopper."Mr. Klopfer would meander into the stores' stereo departments, casually tell sales people he was interested in buying a set of British-made speakers and ask which brand was the best. "I wanted to know what the dealers thought, and what people were buying," he said recently.

Polk Audio Inc.The Baltimore-based manufacturer of high-quality audio speaker systems bounced back from a disappointing fiscal 1990 first quarter, when net earnings fell 50 percent compared to the year-earlier period, to a second quarter in which net earnings rose 61.4 percent, to $506,551, from the $313,814 recorded in the second quarter of fiscal 1989.Net sales in the second quarter were $7,588,916, a 17.5 percent rise over the $6,457,294 during the year-earlier period. Net earnings for the first six months were $683,551, 2.8 percent more than the $664,677 recorded during the first six months of fiscal 1989.

Polk Audio Inc., a Baltimore-based manufacturer of high-end loudspeakers, has teamed with a Colorado audio component designer to make speakers for "home theater" entertainment systems.Polk said yesterday that it will create a new company, Eoson, to make loudspeaker systems that will be sold exclusively by Best Buy Co. Inc., a fast-growing consumer electronics retailer. The announcement sent Polk's stock up 12 percent for the day, to close at $11.75.The Eoson speakers will be designed by Arnie Nudell, whose Genesis Technologies audio systems are aimed at audiophiles.

Depressed by a one-time relocation charge, Polk Audio Inc.'s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings dropped 51.3 percent as sales increased 17 percent.The Baltimore-based maker of high-quality loudspeakers yesterday reported it earned $156,054, or 9 cents a share, on sales of $10.8 million during the three months that ended March 26. In the previous fourth quarter, the company earned $320,186, or 19 cents a share, on sales of $9.2 million.Net income was down because of a $200,000, or 12 cents per share, after-tax charge for moving most of Polk's remaining manufacturing production from Baltimore to its operations in Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego to cut labor costs.