COLMAR, Pa. -- Dorman Products has announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 26.

Revenues for the three months ended March 26 increased 26 percent over the prior year to $124.4 million from $99 million last year. The company said revenue growth was driven primarily by strong overall demand for Dorman products and higher new product sales.

Net income in the first quarter of 2011 was up 29 percent to $12.4 million from $9.6 million in the same period last year. Diluted earnings per share in the first quarter of 2011 rose 28 percent to 68 cents from 53 cents in the same period last year.

Gross profit margin was 36.5 percent for the first quarter of 2011 compared to 38.2 percent in 2010. The decrease in margin percent is the result of an increase in transportation costs and higher provisions for excess inventory, the company noted.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 19 percent in 2011 to $26.2 million from $22.1 million in 2010, but were down as a percentage of sales from 22.3 percent in 2010 to 21.1 percent in 2011. The spending increase was the result of higher variable costs related to our sales increase, increased new product development spending and inflationary cost increases.

Dorman’s effective tax rate decreased to 35.2 percent from 38.5 percent in the prior year. The company said the decrease is primarily the result of the 2011 receipt of tax-exempt life insurance proceeds used to fund an officer's death benefit.

Operating cash flow for 2011 was $9.2 million compared to $7.1 million in 2010.

Steven Berman, chairman and CEO, said, "Our strong first quarter sales growth was driven by the continued success of our new product development efforts. Revenues from products introduced in the last two years topped 20 percent for the quarter. This is a direct result of our continued investments and the efforts from our dedicated, enthusiastic and knowledgeable contributors. We continue to commit additional resources to our 'New to the Aftermarket' initiative -- during 2010 we increased the number of Dorman sales, engineering and product development professionals by 30 percent."