MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. (AP) — Actuant Corp. (ATU) on Thursday reported a fiscal first-quarter loss of $17.5 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.
The Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based company said it had a loss of 29 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for asset impairment costs and pretax expenses, came to 27 cents per share.
The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 24 cents per share.
Randy Baker, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Our solid quarterly results demonstrate sustained momentum as we drive growth and incremental profitability across our two business segments. In particular, growth for the Industrial Tools & Services segment was driven by strength in our premier Enerpac branded tools product line and improved profitability in our heavy lifting product category resulting from strategic changes to our product offerings in 2018. We also continued to focus on winning new product platforms at our key OEM customers and expanding operating margins in the Engineered Components & Systems segment. We are executing each segment’s strategy and believe we are well positioned to deliver enhanced shareholder value.”
Baker continued, “We also made progress with our portfolio optimization efforts, completing the sale of Cortland Fibron. In addition, we have begun processes to divest the remaining Cortland and Precision-Hayes International businesses. The proceeds from these transactions, cash generated from operations, and access to capital markets on reduced leverage, will provide us the fuel needed to continue to invest in our core tools business.”
The industrial products company posted revenue of $292.5 million in the period, which did not meet Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $299 million.
For the current quarter ending in March, Actuant expects its per-share earnings to range from 15 cents to 20 cents.
The company said it expects revenue in the range of $268 million to $278 million for the fiscal second quarter.
Actuant expects full-year earnings in the range of $1.09 to $1.20 per share, with revenue ranging from $1.15 billion to $1.19 billion.
Actuant shares have dropped 8.5 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has decreased 16 percent in the last 12 months.
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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on ATU at https://www.zacks.com/ap/ATU
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