ImmuCell Corp. has completed an expansion that will allow the company to better keep up with customer demand for its flagship product, the Portland-based maker of bovine health products reported Wednesday.

The news came as part of the company’s first-quarter earnings statement. In it, ImmuCell reported sales of $3 million in the first quarter, down 3.7 percent from a year earlier. Net income for the quarter was $452,000, or 11 cents a share, down slightly from $479,000, or 15 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2015.

ImmuCell reports that total sales increased by 17 percent from a year earlier, to $10.1 million during the 12-month period that ended March 31. 2011 Press Herald File Photo/John Ewing

However, total annual sales increased by 17 percent from a year earlier, to $10.1 million during the 12-month period that ended March 31. The company also noted that as of March 31 it had a backlog of orders valued at $1.7 million, up from a $1.3 million backlog a year earlier.

The company had been working to double its production capacity in order to speed up shipments of its primary product, called First Defense, a natural product to boost the immunity of newborn calves. It is a time-sensitive product that customers need to administer soon after a calf is born.

The expansion was completed in the first quarter.

“The benefit of this capacity expansion will be realized going forward, as we fill the backlog of orders and meet the growing sales demand,” it said.

The company said it continued to advance toward receiving U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for its second major product, called Mast Out, a natural treatment for mastitis in lactating dairy cows. Unlike other antibiotic treatments, farmers using Mast Out would not be subject to a milk-discard period, the company said.

Finally, the company reported that it closed on a $4.5 million credit facility, a type of loan, from TD Bank and raised $5.3 million through a stock offering of 1.1 million shares in the first quarter.

“Our current cash, together with our cash flow from operations and the new debt facility, provides a road map to complete the development of Mast Out and bring the product to market,” said ImmuCell President and CEO Michael Brigham.

ImmuCell trades on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol ICCC. Its stock price fell 1.2 percent to $6.71 a share in trading Wednesday, before the new earnings statement was released.

J. Craig Anderson can be contacted at 791-6390 or at:

canderson@pressherald.com

Twitter: jcraiganderson

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