Note B - Inventories

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

Notes to Financial Statements

Inventory Disclosure [Text Block]

B.   INVENTORIES:

The amount of inventories valued on the LIFO basis was $32,994,000 and $35,804,000 as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and consists of housewares/small appliance finished goods and certain Safety segment inventories.  Under LIFO, inventories are valued at approximately $9,249,000 and $14,174,000 below current cost determined on a first-in, first-out (FIFO) basis at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.  During the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, $2,810,000, $0, and $2,215,000, 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
2022	$	4,925		$	(3,925	)	$	(0.55	)
2021	$	(9,745	)	$	7,698		$	1.09
2020	$	(447	)	$	349		$	0.05

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

Inventory for the Defense segment, certain products for the Safety segment, and raw materials and certain prepaid products of the Housewares/Small Appliance segment are valued under the FIFO method and total $119,144,000 and $108,057,000 at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.  At December 31, 2022, the FIFO total was comprised of $3,255,000 of finished goods, $105,564,000 of work in process, and $10,324,000 of raw material.  At December 31, 2021, the FIFO total was comprised of $4,820,000 of finished goods, $92,437,000 of work in process, and $10,800,000 of raw material.