BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION [Abstract]

BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION

6.            BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION

The Company operates in one industry with three reportable operating segments, which are geographic in nature.  The segments consist of North America, Asia and Europe.  The primary criteria by which financial performance is evaluated and resources are allocated are sales and income from operations.  The following is a summary of key financial data (dollars in thousands):

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
	2011			2010			2011			2010
Total segment sales:
North America	$	37,842		$	34,214		$	113,195		$	89,991
Asia		46,501			55,660			136,638			140,381
Europe		8,577			9,591			26,742			26,560
Total segment sales		92,920			99,465			276,575			256,932
Reconciling item:
Intersegment sales		(17,017	)		(14,424	)		(50,096	)		(38,090	)
Net sales	$	75,903		$	85,041		$	226,479		$	218,842
Income (loss) from operations:
North America	$	1,785		$	925		$	6,061		$	2,023
Asia		(143	)		7,691			(1,272	)		11,935
Europe		296			835			1,523			1,087
	$	1,938		$	9,451		$	6,312		$	15,045

The following items are included in the income (loss) from operations presented above:

Litigation Charges – During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011, the Company recorded $0.2 million and $3.5 million, respectively, of litigation charges related to ongoing lawsuits, as further described in Note 11.  These charges primarily impacted the Company's Asia operating segment.

Cinch Acquisition – Sales for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 include Cinch results after January 29, 2010.  Cinch's January 2011 revenue accounted for $5.5 million of the increase in Bel's total net sales for the first nine months of 2011.  Cinch sales relate primarily to the North America operating segment and to a lesser extent in the Europe operating segment.

Segment Sales – Segment sales are attributed to individual segments based on the geographic source of the billing for such customer sales.  Transfers between geographic areas include finished products manufactured in foreign countries which are then transferred to the United States and Europe for sale; finished goods manufactured in the United States which are transferred to Europe and Asia for sale; and semi-finished components manufactured in the United States which are sold to Asia for further processing. Income (loss) from operations represents net sales less operating costs and expenses.