Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (AWI) Monday reported a sharp fall in first-quarter profit, reflecting lower revenues and higher interest expense. The company also cut its adjusted earnings per share outlook for the full year 2013, but reaffirmed its revenue view.
In the first quarter, the company's net earnings plunged to $3 million or $0.05 per share from $18.2 million or $0.31 per share in the previous year.
Earnings per share from continuing operations in the prior year were $0.32. Adjusted earnings for the recent quarter was $0.22 per share, while the company posted $0.49 per share last year.
On average, 14 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.39 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
The floor and ceilings products maker said its quarterly net sales decreased 2 percent to $622.3 million, which also came below analysts' estimate of $633.24 million.
The company said its sales were negatively impacted by sale of Patriot wood flooring distribution business in the third quarter of 2012, and lower commercial volumes.
Building Products segment net sales declined 3.4 percent, and Resilient Flooring sales were down 5.5 percent from a year ago. Meanwhile, net sales generated by Wood Flooring grew 8.6 percent from last year.
Price and mix were both positive, but only partially offset the impact of lower volumes, the firm said.
Interest expense climbed to $33.2 million from $11.2 million a year earlier.
"We delivered first quarter results in line with the expectations we outlined earlier this year, despite a continued choppy commercial market environment," said Matt Espe, president and CEO.
Looking ahead to the second quarter, the company expects sales to be in the range of $680 million to $730 million. Analysts expect the company to report $697.20 million for the quarter. For full-year 2013, the firm now expects adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $2.15 to $2.45, down from the prior forecast of $2.30 to $2.60 per share. The company still anticipates sales to be in the range of $2.7 billion to $2.8 billion.
Analysts expect the company to report earnings per share of $2.49, on revenue of $2.71 billion for the year.
AWI is currently trading at $51.88, down 0.88 percent, on the NYSE.
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