Crane Co, a U.S. maker of equipment for the gaming and other industries, says its net profit rose to US$91.0 million in the second quarter of 2019 from US$80.7 million a year earlier.
Crane issued on Monday a written announcement saying the value of its second-quarter sales shrank by 1.1 percent to US$841.6 million.
The announcement blamed the contraction in sales on an unfavourable foreign exchange market subtracting US$16.0 million from the figure and divestitures subtracting US$1.5 million, even though core sales grew by US$8.1 million.
Second-quarter sales in the Crane Co. payment and merchandising technologies business, which counts the gaming industry as a customer, shrank to US$291 million from US$324 million.
A contraction in core sales in the payment and merchandising technologies business cut the figure by US$25 million, unfavourable foreign exchange dealings cut it by US$7 million and a divestiture cut it by US$1 million.
The announcement quoted Crane Co president and chief executive Max Mitchell as saying: “All of our businesses are executing well, and we continue to drive both growth and productivity initiatives across our businesses.”
Mr Mitchell continued: “We have a full funnel of opportunities that we will continue to pursue in the quarters ahead.”
The company now forecasts that its sales in 2019 will be US$3.3 billion as core sales decline and the foreign exchange market works against it.
In a separate written announcement, also issued on Monday, Crane Co declared a regular quarterly dividend of US$0.39 per share for the third quarter of 2019.
The dividend is payable on September 9 to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 31.
