Monday, Kaydon Corp. (KDN), a manufacturer of custom-engineered, performance-critical products, said it expects a decline in fourth quarter earnings.
The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company's preliminary net income was $13.8 million for the quarter, down from $22.7 million a year ago. Including items, preliminary diluted earnings per share are expected to be $0.41 compared to $0.70 in the prior-year quarter.
Eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $47 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
The fourth quarter results included a $0.09 per share after tax gain on the sale of a component of a reporting segment, while the year-ago quarter results included a $3.1 million after tax gain on the sale of a component of a reporting segment.
On a preliminary basis, sales increased to $132.4 million from $123.7 million a year ago, but came in below Street estimates of $134.49 million for the quarter.
Preliminary order entry totaled $90.5 million for the quarter, a decrease of 23.3%, compared to the prior fourth quarter. Preliminary quarter-end backlog was $312.6 million compared to $238.9 million last year.
The company noted that its fiscal 2008 became increasingly challenging as several of the company's end markets slowed during the year. While wind energy and defense remained strong relative to last year, their contribution to operating profit was not sufficient to offset the softness in certain higher margin end markets.
For fiscal 2008, preliminary net income is expected to decline to $67.1 million or $2.09 per share from $77.7 million or $2.41 per share last year. Analysts are looking for earnings of $2.15 per share for the year.
Full year sales jumped to $522.4 million from $451.4 million in the previous year, with significant growth in the wind energy business. Six analysts estimated revenues of $524.7 million for the year.
KDN closed Monday's regular trading down $0.95 or 3.08% on a volume of about 421 thousand shares. In after hours, the shares traded at $30.20, gaining $0.35 or 1.17%.
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