Filtration and purification products maker Pall Corp. (PLL), said Wednesday its third quarter profit increased from last year, due mainly on lower tax expense and restructuring charges. The company's quarterly sales improved a modest one percent from last year as the eurozone crisis and supply chain disruptions hampered growth. Both earnings and sales for the quarter fell short of Street estimates.
Moving forward, the company cut its earnings expectations for the full year 2012, citing weak European conditions.
CEO Larry Kingsley said, "It was a difficult quarter, especially as the Eurozone struggled and our previously announced "global go-live" ERP transition disrupted our supply chain more than anticipated..."
Port Washington, New York-based Pall Corp. reported third quarter net income of $78.9 million or $0.67 per share, compared to $71 million or $0.60 per share last year.
Results for the quarter include income tax of $18 million, compared to $34 million last year.
Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $83.4 million or $0.70 per share, compared to $85 million or $0.72 per share in the prior year.
On average, 7 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.80 per share for the second quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Pall reported third quarter net sales of $715 million, and sales from continuing operations of $658 million. This compares to sales of $653.8 million last year. Six analysts on consensus estimated sales of $725.17 million for the quarter.
Kingsley said the company experienced soft industrial orders in all geographies, with consumables down 8 percent.
Sales at Life Sciences segment edged up 1.7 percent year-over-year, with Bio Pharmaceuticals improving 2.3 percent. Food & Beverage sales rose 4.4 percent, while Medical slid 3.8 percent.
Sales at Industrial segment fell 0.3 percent from last year, with Process Technologies up 2.7 percent. Aerospace sales edged down 0.5 percent and Microelectronics slumped 7.8 percent.
Pall now expects full year 2012 earnings of $3.10, or $2.72 per share on a continuing operations basis. Analysts currently expect earnings of $3.17 per share for the year.
This compares to Pall's earlier outlook in December, when it reaffirmed 2012 earnings of $2.82 to $3.07 per share and adjusted earnings of $3.07 to $3.32 per share. In March, while stating that the bottom end of its guided range as achievable, the company targeted the midpoint of $3.20 per share or more.
For fiscal year 2013, Pall expects low-single digit organic sales growth, with increases in Asia and the Americas more than offsetting a decline in Europe.
PLL closed Wednesday at $54.63, up $0.08 or 0.15%, on a volume of 2.0 million shares on the NYSE. In after hours, the stock dropped $2.24 or 4.10%.
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