John Baker, the company's president and CEO, says total operating profit for the quarter increased by 13.8% to $34 million from $30 million last year. He credits his work force for helping the firm "achieve record results in what has certainly been a challenging period in our economy."

Florida Rock's anticipated sale of $2.25 million of real estate to US Homes has been deferred to the fourth quarter.

The company's cement segment showed the largest percentage increase in operating profit at 29%, going from $3.66 million last year to $4.7 million this year on record cement volume of 199,000 tons.

Concrete products also improved from $12 million last year to $14 million operating profit this year, a 14.8% increased. Ready mix yards were down 2.3%, but block and building material volumes "improved substantially," Baker says.

Consolidated total sales for the quarter rose 4.4% to $198 million from $189.8 million in the comparable 2002 period. "The operating profit in all three segments benefited in this year's third quarter from a reduction in health insurance loss allocations of approximately $1.4 million that previously had been reported under corporate overhead," Baker says.

For the nine months ended June 30, consolidated total sales decreased 2.4% to $526 million from $539 million in fiscal 2002. For the same period, however, gross profit increased 2% to $132.6 million from $130 million last year. Gross profit margin increased to 25.2% from 24.1%, despite higher year-over-year fuel expenses, Baker says.

Net income for the nine months was $52 million versus $47.9 million last year, due to "slight margin improvements, lower interest expense and higher property sales," the company's chief executive says.

"Home building is still helping to compensate for stagnant commercial construction," Baker notes. "Strong road building in Florida continues to offset the weaker state spending in Virginia and Maryland."

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