Engineering and manufacturing company ITT Corp. (ITT) said on Friday morning that its second quarter profit rose from last year led by strong segmental growth in sales and revenue, partially offset by higher raw material and energy costs.Excluding items, earnings per share from continuing operations climbed 38% and came in ahead of analysts' estimate. Quarterly revenues also surged 38% and topped Wall Street expectations. The company also raised its earnings and revenue guidance for fiscal 2008.
In a statement, chairman, president and chief executive officer Steve Loranger said, "It is the continued great performance of our teams around the world who are meeting customer needs in extraordinary ways that is driving the high-quality results we delivered again this quarter."
"The outstanding contributions of our people, coupled with our balanced portfolio strategy, are serving us well and more than offsetting challenging macro-economic conditions, including rapidly increasing raw material and energy costs," Loranger added.
Second Quarter Results
The White Plains, New York-based provider of advanced technology products and services reported that its second quarter net income increased to $221 million, or $1.20 per share, from $213.7 million, or $1.16 per share, in the prior-year quarter.
Quarterly income from continuing operations was $224.3 million, or $1.22 per share, higher than $199.2 million, or $1.08 per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Income from continuing operations, excluding special items, was $219 million, or $1.19 per share, up 38% from $157.4 million, or $0.86 per share, in the comparable quarter a year ago. On average, sixteen analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial expected the company to earn $1.10 per share for the second quarter.
Sales and revenues for the second quarter climbed 38% to $3.06 billion from $2.22 billion in the same quarter last year, and topped ten Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $2.93 billion.
Revenue growth was helped by record sales in each business segment, including first-ever $1 billion quarter for the Fluid Technology segment.
ITT noted that the increase in revenue on a comparable basis comprised of 7% of organic growth, 27% benefit from recent acquisition and 4% from foreign exchange. The company's organic revenue growth is largely due to robust international sales in both commercial segments and continued strong performance on key defense contracts.
Segmental details
Fluid Technology segment revenues grew 17% to $1.03 billion over last year, topping a billion for the first time ever. Revenue growth was led by 10% organic growth and strong international sales. Particular strength was witnessed in the Industrial Process business, which delivered 16% growth on strong global demand for pumps serving the chemical, mining, oil and gas markets. Segment operating income, on a comparable basis, rose 27% to a record $139 million, with operating margins improving 100 basis points.
Revenues for the Defense Electronics & Services segment climbed 57% to $1.60 billion over last year, benefiting from the strong performance of the EDO Corp. acquisition. The segment achieved 5% organic revenue growth. Segment orders for the quarter grew 26% organically, contributing to a second quarter backlog of $4.6 billion. On a comparable basis, segment operating income jumped 53% to nearly $200 million.
Motion and Flow Control segment revenues were $443 million, up 34% over last year, with organic revenue growth of 6%. Segment growth was driven by strength in the Aerospace Controls and Friction Technologies businesses, which achieved 18% and 17% organic revenue growth respectively. Segment operating income rose 32% to $71 million.
Other Metrics
Operating income for the quarter increased to $354.8 million from $251.2 million in the year-ago quarter. Total costs and expenses was $2.71 billion, up from $1.97 billion in the prior-year quarter, including selling, general and administrative expenses of $445.8 million.
Interest expense for the quarter increased to $31.4 million from $19.1 million in the same quarter last year, while income tax expense was $103.3 million, higher than $41.0 million in the prior-year quarter.
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the second quarter were $0.88 billion, compared to $1.11 billion at end of the year-ago quarter.
Half-Yearly Highlights
For the half-yearly period, ITT posted net income of $392.9 million, or $2.14 per share, up from $353.7 million, or $1.92 per share, in the prior-year period. Income from continuing operations for six-month period rose to $395.2 million, or $2.15 per share, from $236.0 million, or $1.82 per share, in the year-ago period.
Total sales and revenues for the period was $5.87 billion, higher than $4.29 billion in the same period last year.
Guidance
Looking ahead, ITT lifted fiscal 2008 forecast for earnings from continuing operations, excluding special items, to a range of $4.11 to $4.17 per share, a 9% increase from the mid-point of previous guidance in the range of $4.00 to $4.10 per share. The forecast reflects full-year anticipated growth of about 26% over fiscal 2007.
The company now expects full-year revenues between $11.6 billion and $11.7 billion, up about 29% from last year. Previously, revenues were expected in the range of $11.4 billion to $11.5 billion.
Analysts currently expect the company to report earnings of $4.10 per share on revenues of $11.52 billion for the full year.
Stock Quote
In Friday's regular trading session, ITT is trading at $65.28, up $2.61 or 4.16% on a volume of 87 thousand shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $50.94 to $70.50.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.