MetPro Corp. Reports Operating Results (10-Q)

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Aug 26, 2010
MetPro Corp. (MPR, Financial) filed Quarterly Report for the period ended 2010-07-31.

Metpro Corp. has a market cap of $134.1 million; its shares were traded at around $9.17 with a P/E ratio of 27 and P/S ratio of 1.7. The dividend yield of Metpro Corp. stocks is 2.6%. Metpro Corp. had an annual average earning growth of 2.5% over the past 5 years.MPR is in the portfolios of Chuck Royce of Royce& Associates, Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies LLC.

Highlight of Business Operations:

Beginning in 2002, the Company began to be named in asbestos-related lawsuits filed against a large number of industrial companies including, in particular, those in the pump and fluid handling industries. In management s opinion, the complaints typically have been vague, general and speculative, alleging that the Company, along with the numerous other defendants, sold unidentified asbestos-containing products and engaged in other related actions which caused injuries (including death) and loss to the plaintiffs. Counsel has advised that more recent cases typically allege more serious claims of mesothelioma. The Company believes that it has meritorious defenses to the cases which have been filed and that none of its products were a cause of any injury or loss to any of the plaintiffs. The Company s insurers have hired attorneys who, together with the Company, are vigorously defending these cases. The Company has been dismissed from or settled a large number of these cases. The sum total of all payments through August 26, 2010 to settle these cases involving asbestos-related claims was $612,500, all of which have been paid by the Company s insurers including legal expenses, except for corporate counsel expenses, with an average cost per settled claim, excluding legal fees, of approximately $34,000. As of August 26 2010, there were a total of 74 cases pending against the Company (with a majority of those cases pending in Mississippi and New York), as compared with 106 cases that were pending as of January 31, 2010. For the February 1, 2010 through August 26, 2010 period, 21 new cases were filed against the Company, and the Company was dismissed (some of which were without prejudice) from 52 cases and settled one case. Most of the pending cases have not advanced beyond the early stages of discovery, although a number of cases are on schedules leading to, or are scheduled for trial. The Company believes that its insurance coverage is adequate for the cases currently pending against the Company and for the foreseeable future, assuming a continuation of the current volume, nature of cases and settlement amounts; however, the Company has no control over the number and nature of cases that are filed against it, nor as to the financial health of its insurers or their position as to coverage. The Company also presently believes that none of the pending cases will have a material adverse impact upon the Company s results of operations, liquidity or financial condition.

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