Argaman Industries Ltd. said its first-quarter normalized net income amounted to a loss of 3 agorot per share, compared with a loss of 7 agorot per share in the prior-year period.

Normalized net income, which excludes unusual gains or losses on a pre- and after-tax basis, was a loss of 419,000 shekels, compared with a loss of 1.0 million shekels in the prior-year period.

The normalized profit margin climbed to negative 2.2% from negative 4.5% in the year-earlier period.

Total revenue fell 13.7% year over year to 19.2 million shekels from 22.2 million shekels, and total operating expenses decreased 12.1% year over year to 19.3 million shekels from 22.0 million shekels.

Reported net income totaled a loss of 687,000 shekels, or a loss of 5 agorot per share, compared to a loss of 2.1 million shekels, or a loss of 14 agorot per share, in the prior-year period.

As of May 28, US$1 was equivalent to 3.87 shekels.