Note B - Inventories

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Notes to Financial Statements

Inventory Disclosure [Text Block]

B.   INVENTORIES:

The amount of inventories valued on the LIFO basis was $30,515,000 and $32,744,000 as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and consists of housewares/small appliance finished goods and certain Safety segment inventories.  Under LIFO, inventories are valued at approximately $4,429,000 and $3,982,000 below current cost determined on a first-in, first-out (FIFO) basis at December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.  During the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, $2,215,000, $85,000, and $26,000, respectively, of a LIFO layer was liquidated.  The Company uses the LIFO method of inventory accounting to improve the matching of costs and revenues for the Housewares/Small Appliance and Safety segments. 

The following table describes that which would have occurred if LIFO inventories had been valued at current cost determined on a FIFO basis:

Increase (Decrease) – (In thousands, except per share data)
Year	Cost of Sales			Net Earnings			Earnings Per Share
2020	$	(447	)	$	349		$	0.05
2019	$	42		$	(34	)	$	-
2018	$	(189	)	$	143		$	0.02

This information is provided for comparison with companies using the FIFO basis. 

Inventory for Defense and raw materials of the Housewares/Small Appliance segments are valued under the FIFO method and total $104,973,000 and $95,792,000 at December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.  At December 31, 2020, the FIFO total was comprised of $925,000 of finished goods, $96,463,000 of work in process, and $7,585,000 of raw material.  At December 31, 2019, the FIFO total was comprised of $751,000 of finished goods, $87,805,000 of work in process, and $7,236,000 of raw material.