Astec Industries, Inc., (ASTE), a manufacturer of specialized equipment for building, Tuesday posted a higher profit in spite of lower revenues for the first quarter. Lower income taxes helped net income.
For the three-month period, the company reported earnings from continuing operations of $13.3 million or $0.57 per share compared to $12 million or $0.52 per share corresponding year quarter.
On average, nine analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.54 for the first quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Net sales for the period were $247.8 million compared with $252 million reported prior year quarter. Analyst estimated revenue to be $256.4 million.
Don Brock, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated, "Although our revenues and pre-tax earnings were relatively flat compared to the first quarter of 2012, we were able to improve our gross margin by 30 basis points over the first quarter of 2012 and 250 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2012. Since the federal research and development tax credit for 2012 was not approved by Congress until early 2013, our first quarter results also include a substantial reduction in our effective tax rate."
Monday, Astec closed at $31.66 on the Nasdaq.
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