Electro Rent Net Income Rises 5% for Fiscal Year

Electro Rent Corp., a Van Nuys company that rents and sells electronic test equipment and personal computers, said its net income for the fiscal year that ended May 31 rose 5% to $7.4 million from $7.03 million a year earlier, while revenues for the same period dropped 5% to $102.4 million from $107.6 million.

For the fourth quarter that ended May 31, Electro Rent’s net income rose 11% from a year earlier, to $2.05 million from $1.85 million. Its fourth-quarter revenues dropped 3%, to $25.85 million from $26.7 million a year earlier.

Chief Executive Daniel Greenberg said the main reason for the higher earnings was a sharp reduction in interest expense after the company cut its bank debt to $42.9 million from $59.8 million.

Greenberg attributed the lower revenues to a modest decline in equipment rentals, reflecting what he called weakness in the test and measurement area. Used equipment sales were also down.