U.S.-based Crane Co, a supplier of payment and merchandising technology to the gaming industry, on Monday declared a second quarter 2015 dividend of US$0.33 per share.
The dividend is payable on June 9, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 29.
The same day as Crane announced its regular quarterly dividend, it also released its first quarter 2015 results.
Net income attributable to common shareholders before special items actually fell 13.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, to US$54.1 million, from US$62.2 million in the year-prior quarter. On a net income per share basis before special items, the fall was 12.2 percent, to US$0.92, compared US$1.05 a year earlier.
Special items in the first quarter of 2015 included US$2 million in after-tax charges, or US$0.03 per share, related to “repositioning activities”, and US$1 million, or US$0.02 per share, of after-tax restructuring and integration-related charges associated with the December 2013 acquisition of MEI Conlux Holdings Inc, a maker of automated payment systems.
The Nasdaq-listed company also provides highly engineered industrial products to customers in the aerospace, electronics, hydrocarbon processing, petrochemical, chemical, power generation, automated merchandising, transportation and other markets.
Group wide, Crane’s first quarter 2015 sales of US$679 million declined 5 percent compared to the same period in 2014. But the firm said what it described as “core sales” were up slightly, though with a 5 percent negative impact from unfavourable foreign exchange rates.
“We were particularly pleased with the improved organic growth at payment and merchandising technologies,” said Max Mitchell, Crane’s president and chief executive, in a statement accompanying the results.
Group operating profit in the first quarter increased to US$86 million, up by 6 percent compared to the first quarter of 2014. Excluding special items, first quarter operating profit decreased to US$90 million, down by 10 percent compared to the first quarter of 2014.
