Actuant Corp. Turns To Profit In Q3, Tops View; Cuts FY14 Guidance

(RTTNews) - Actuant Corp. (ATU), a manufacturer of industrial products, Wednesday reported third-quarter earnings of $50.55 million or $0.70 per share compared with a loss of $92.98 million or $1.24 per share in the year-ago period.

The company's net earnings from continuing operations rose to $50.6 million or $0.70 per share from $46.1 million or $0.62 per share last year. On average, 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings per share of $0.63 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Earnings per share increased year-over-year reflecting higher sales and operating earnings, as well as fewer shares outstanding, said the firm's Chief Executive, Mark Goldstein.

Net sales for the quarter rose 10 percent to $378 million from $344 million in the prior year quarter and beat consensus estimate of $376.57 million.

Looking ahead, for the fourth quarter, the group expects earnings per share in the range of $0.48-$0.53, on revenues of $350-360 million. Analysts project earnings of $0.61 per share on revenues of $372.87 million.

For the full year 2014, the firm slashed its earnings forecast to the range of $1.92-$1.97 from the previous range of $2.00 - $2.10 and now expect sales of nearly $1.4 billion compared with the prior range of $1.41 billion -$1.45 billion. Analysts estimate earnings of $1.99 per share on revenues of $1.41 billion.