Tennant Co. recently announced that it intend to invest more in environmentally friendly cleaning technology, which contributed to high sales and earnings over the first quarter. According to analysts’ estimates, the profits recorded would be around the figure of $161.7 million, but the company outperformed these figures by recording a 15 percent increase in sales amounting to $172.6 million by March 31, 2011.
Thanks to the new ec-H2O technology, which was introduced in 2008, the Tennant floor scrubber had registered an increase of 65 percent, and was considered to be a strong contributor to performance in the first quarter of 2011.
What makes this technology unique is the fact that it converts water into a cleaning solution. Given its popularity among customers, the earnings of $5.9 million by Tennant was exactly what Wall Street estimates had forecasted earlier.
The company also recently launched a machine that dispenses water and salt as ingredients and works as an excellent substitute for most cleaning solutions that are currently used.
Interestingly, the cleaning equipment company’s research and development spending was about $6.3 million in the same quarter, and now it plans to increase the investment on the aforementioned technology to about 4 percent of sales (as opposed to 3.6 percent in the first quarter) and in particular for its water-based cleaning business.
Keeping these positive developments in mind, the company has also raised its earnings by 5 cents, which is within a range of $1.75 to $1.95, and increased its sales estimates by about $5 million to a total figure of about $730 million for the year.