By: Tomas Ronolski - AllPennyStocks.com News

Friday, October 18, 2013

Some companies are listed on the Nasdaq or NYSE MKT exchange and it can be a bit of a head scratcher as to how they got there or how they maintain the listing. Conversely, there are some Pink Sheet listed firms that seem a little out of place there as well. When OTC Markets established itself as a premiere platform to differentiate “Pink Sheet” companies, it certainly helped separate the wheat from the chaff with three different levels of OTC companies. For instance, ADR shares of biotech behemoth Roche (RHHBY) simply used to be lumped in with other companies that traded at a thousandth of a penny, but not anymore as it is listed as an OTCQX International Premier company. Now that’s not to say that Armanino Foods of Distinction, Inc. (Pink Sheets:AMNF) is a giant like Roche, but a 30,000-foot view shows some clear distinction of the international food company from some of the sketchy companies on the pinks.

Armanino is a company with roots going back more than 100 years with recipes originating in Ligure, near Genoa, Italy. In the 1950’s the then-new concept of freeze-drying was incorporated to operations, taking the company from a small, California outfit to an international scale. As the saying goes, the rest is history.

Armanino now manufactures and markets frozen Italian specialty food items such as pestos, Bolognese, sauces and filled pastas to the foodservice, retail, and industrial markets. In addition to a classic Basil Pesto Armanino offers other flavors such as Cilantro, Dried Tomato & Garlic, Roasted Red Bell Pepper, Southwest Chipotle, Artichoke, Roasted Garlic and Light Basil Pesto. Products are sold to customers in the industrial and foodservice industries as well as in grocery stores across the U.S. through chains like Safeway, Vons and Cost Plus.

On Friday, the company released its results from the third quarter ended September 30, showing record sales and earnings. During the quarter, Armanino generated $7.39 million in sales, up by 4 percent from $7.09 million in the year prior quarter. Net profit for the quarter equaled $1.47 million, or 2.8 cents per share, versus $1.28 million, or 2.5 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2012.

For the first nine months of 2013, sales have improved to $21.31 million from $20.87 million last year. Income from continuing operations rose 12 percent to $4.06 million, or 7.8 cents per share.

During the quarter, the company announced a cash dividend of $0.014 per share. It was the 53rd consecutive quarterly dividend, in addition to paying ten special dividends across that time.

“The strength of our domestic business drove the Company’s overall record breaking sales and profits through the end of the third quarter. We are cautiously optimistic that this positive trend will continue for the rest of this year. While we saw a strong uptick in our international sales late in the third quarter, it is too early to tell how strategies that we have been working on will impact fourth quarter sales internationally,” said Edmond J. Pera, president and chief executive of Armanino Foods stated.

Pera added that the company is adding four new product offerings in select test markets in the fourth quarter.

Armanino utilizes an alternative reporting method (rather than the SEC) for transparency of its financials. These reports are filed on the OTC Markets website, but the latest has not been made public yet. As of the end of the second quarter, the company had a strong balance sheet with approximately $10 million in assets (including $2 million in cash and Certificates of Deposit) and only $3.58 million in liabilities.

Shares have been a steady climber in the past 16 months, rising from a solid base at 70 cents to continually print new highs, including today’s move to $1.80, for gains of about 3 percent on the day. With steady share appreciation, regular dividend payments, quarterly profits and modesty about the future, Armanino certainly is setting itself apart from other true Pink Sheet-listed peers. Proper due diligence is, as always, encouraged.

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