Command Center Inc. (OTC: CCNI) reported third-quarter revenue rose 6.4% year over year to $26.4 million, attributable to increased revenue from branches outside North Dakota and from the operations of Hancock Staffing offices purchased in June.

Revenue from branches outside North Dakota, and excluding revenue from the Hancock Staffing branches, rose 4.8% year over year to approximately $21.2 million. However, sales in North Dakota — a state economically dependent on the health of the oil industry — declined 30.9% year over year.

Command Center reported net income rose 2.2% to $838,231. A 10.8% increase in selling, general and administrative expenses was attributed to increases in payroll tax and workers’ compensation expenses, as well as bad debt expense for aged invoices related to specific customers.

Gross margin narrowed to 25.9% from to 26.1% in the year-ago quarter, largely due to a mix of business in some branches that included lower margin revenue.

Command Center in September appointed Colette Pieper as chief financial officer.

Quote

“We continue to see a decline in revenue from our North Dakota offices, but as we have said all along, those branches remain profitable and margins remain relatively high,” said President and CEO Bubba Sandford. “While revenue from North Dakota was down over 30% for the quarter, we increased revenue from stores outside of North Dakota by nearly 15% year over year.”

Sandford continued, “The addition of the Hancock Staffing offices and the people in those offices continues to produce nicely for the company. That purchase was a good use of our cash, and we continue to look for the best use of resources in the future, including opening new stores, repurchasing our stock and identifying other quality acquisition opportunities.”

Share price and market cap

Command Center shares rose 9.38% in early afternoon trading today to 35 cents and the company has a market cap of $21.22 million, according to Yahoo.