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Actuant Q3 sales up on acquisitions, profit slides 6%

Published: 02:33 21 Jun 2012 AEST

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Actuant Corp. (NYSE:ATU) said fiscal third-quarter profit fell by six per cent, despite posting higher sales helped by acquisitions and increased revenue across its business segments.

The Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based company manufactures and distributes a range of industrial products and systems. 

Net income slipped to $34.4 million, or 45 cents per share, compared with the $36.3 million, or 49 cents per share profit, a year earlier. Revenue edged up 9.2 per cent to $429.2 million from $392.7 million.

Analysts polled by Bloomberg had expected per-share profit of 59 cents, on $430 million in sales for the period ended May 31.

In afternoon trade, Actuant shed 4.88 per cent falling to $26.11 apiece on the New York Stock Exchange.

"We are pleased with the results for the third quarter," Actuant chairman and chief executive Robert Arzbaecher said in a statement.

"As expected, our growth rates moderated from the strong pace of the past nine quarters. We delivered financial metrics at the high end of our guidance range even with the impact of foreign currency headwinds."

The company’s industrial segment saw sales rise by two per cent to $110.1 million up from the $107.8 million, a year-earlier. Actuant said growth was led by strong industrial demand across its served end markets and geographies.

The unit’s operating margin also edged up to 27.9 per cent from 27.3 per cent, thanks to higher volumes.

Revenue from its energy division jumped to $96.4 million from 78 million. The segment’s profit also rose to $18.5 million, while operating margin went up to 19.2 per cent.

At its electrical unit, sales came at $85.9 million versus the $80 million a year-earlier. The segment saw an operating profit of $8.8 million compared to $5.5 million. Margins jumped to 10.3 per cent from 6.8 per cent.

Overall gross margin, a measure of profitability, narrowed slightly to 38.7 per cent from 39.2 per cent.

For fiscal 2012, the company projected per-share earnings of $2.03 to $2.08, on $1.60 to $1.61 billion in sales. Analysts expect to see per-share earnings of $2.08, on sales of $1.6 billion.

For fiscal 2013, the company expects to see more uneven end market demand, notably in Europe and China.

It expects total sales of $1.66 to $1.7 billion, and per-share profit to be in the range of $2.15 to $2.30, in line with analyst expectations of $1.7 billion in sales and $2.28 per-share.

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