Nathan’s Famous reports 62% rise in net income

Nathan’s Famous reported a nearly 62 percent rise in net income for the most recent quarter, due to falling sales costs and increasing royalty income.

The Jericho-based hot-dog maker had net income of $699,000 for the three-month period that ended Dec. 25, up from $432,000 a year earlier, the company reported Friday.

Revenues fell year-over-year by 3 percent, to just over $19.9 million for the quarter.

The company reported earnings per diluted share of 17 cents, up from 10 cents a year earlier.

Sales fell by 5.7 percent, to $14,859,000, from the year-earlier period. The decline was mainly due to an 8.2 percent drop in selling prices, since those prices are tied to the costs of beef, the company said in a filing. The lower sales prices were partly offset by a 4.2 percent annual increase in the number of products sold.

The royalties Nathan’s Famous earns from retail and food-service sales grew annually by 10.4 percent, to $3.99 million. The rise was due largely to sales of hot dogs at Sam’s Club, as part of the frankfurter maker’s license agreement with John Morrell & Co., the company reported.

In 2014, Nathan’s Famous signed an agreement with John Morrell, a division of meat industry giant Smithfield Foods. Morrell now manufactures, sells and markets Nathan’s products for stores and food-service venues such as movie theaters and ballparks.

The cost of sales declined by 10.7 percent from a year earlier, to less than $10.8 million, due to lower beef prices.

The company’s stock price rose to $62.45 in early morning trading, an increase of 0.81 percent. Over the past 12 months, its shares have risen by 14.7 percent.

By Maura McDermott

maura.mcdermott@newsday.commauramcdermott

Maura McDermott covers education. Since joining Newsday in 2012, she also has worked on the investigations team and covered real estate and the business of health care.