ROGERS, CT -- Sales at Rogers Corp.'s Printed Circuit Materials unit rose 1% year-over-year in the third quarter.

The company reported overall net income of $59 million on sales of $130.2 million. Net profits were up 310% and sales were down 4.8% from last year. Gross margins slipped 1.4 points to 33% in the quarter. During the quarter, Rogers benefited from one-time net discrete tax items of $50 million, and took net charges of $1 million related to the closure of its manufacturing facility in Bremen, Germany, $1.3 million in charges related to a previously disclosed pension payout to its former chief executive, and $500,000 in other restructuring related charges.

Net sales of Printed Circuit Materials totaled $43.4 million for the quarter, boosted by continued demand for automotive radar safety sensors and antenna applications for communications infrastructure, partially offset by weaker demand in the high reliability market. Additionally, during the quarter, demand increased for printed circuit materials in the telecom base station market in China. The unit sells specialty laminates for RF, microwave and high-frequency applications.

In a press release, president and CEO Bruce D. Hoechner said, "Our two largest businesses are both performing well and we believe that all of our businesses have strong growth prospects as we look toward the future. On the top line, we continue to win new designs in emerging application areas including 4G base station antennas, automotive, and impact protection materials for handheld electronics and in sporting apparel. In the high speed digital market, we have delayed capital spending on capacity expansion as we work to align capacity with our latest view of market timing."

Rogers forecast fourth-quarter revenues of $129 million to $135 million.

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