Mineola holding company reports growth in tobacco, insurance operations
Standard Outdoor, a subsidiary of Standard Diversified Inc., erects outdoor advertising. Credit: Securities and Exchange Commission
Standard Diversified Inc., a Mineola holding company, Friday reported sharply higher second quarter revenue driven by the acquisition of an insurance company and gains in its majority-owned tobacco company.
Revenue for the quarter ended June 30 increased 23.8 percent to $89.3 million compared to the 2017 period.
Net income attributable to Standard Diversified fell 28 percent to $3.5 million, or 20 cents per diluted share.
The company's unit that operates its billboard advertising and holding company operations dragged on profits in the quarter ended June 30, posting an operating loss of $1.4 million compared to a loss of $393,000 in the 2017 quarter.
The operating loss on its "NewGen" e-cigarette products such as vaporizers narrowed to $312,000 from an operating loss of $734,000 in the 2017 quarter.
Standard Diversified's class A shares fell 4 percent Friday to close at $15.84.
Chief executive Ian Estus said in a statement that Turning Point, a 51-percent owned maker of e-cigarette products, pipe and chewing tobacco and Zig-Zag rolling papers, posted "positive net sales growth" in the quarter and that the Maidstone Insurance Co. unit wrote $7.5 million in premiums.
Standard Diversified acquired Mineola-based Interboro Holdings and its Maidstone subsidiary in January, when the company moved to Mineola from Wilmington, Delaware.
Maidstone writes automobile and homeowners insurance, primarily in New York State.
Estus said the company continues to "actively pursue" acquisitions to expand its inventory of 384 billboard faces in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Texas.
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