GGRAsia – Crane NXT 1Q sales down 1pct, posts US$44mln profit

Crane NXT 1Q sales down 1pct, posts US$44mln profit

May 11, 2023 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News

Crane NXT Co, a maker of engineered industrial products including ones for the gaming sector, reported net sales of US$329.1 million for the first quarter, down 1.1 percent from the prior-year period.

The company saw its net income attributable to shareholders decline by 11.7 percent year-on-year, to US$43.7 million, the firm said in a Wednesday filing.

The firm announced a second-quarter dividend of US$0.14 per share for the second quarter of 2023, to be paid on June 8.

Crane NXT Co completed its separation from Crane Holdings Co and launched as an independent publicly-traded company on April 3.

Aaron Saak, Crane NXT’s president and chief executive, said in comments accompanying the results: “Following our successful separation transaction last month, Crane NXT is off to a great start as an independent company based on our strong first quarter results.

“Our performance is indicative of our position as a premier industrial technology company with differentiated technology and leading market positions focused on providing trusted technology solutions to secure, detect, and authenticate our customers’ most valued assets,” he added.

Mr Saak said the firm’s first quarter revenue and operating profit “was stronger than anticipated,” with 10 percent core sales growth at Crane Payment Innovations. The segment generated net sales of US$223.8 million, up 6.1 percent from a year ago.

Crane Currency’s results “were in line” with the company’s forecast and guidance, “driven by timing of shipments through the balance of 2023,” stated Mr Saak. Revenue in the segment was down 13.4 percent year-on-year, at US$105.3 million.

“The strong orders and backlog growth in Crane Currency in the quarter supports our expectations of accelerating sales and margin expansion as the year progresses,” the CEO added.

During the first quarter, cash provided by operating activities was US$36 million, capital expenditures were US$4 million, and free cash flow reached US$32 million.

As of March 31, Crane NXT held cash of US$218 million and total debt was US$1.19 billion.

After the end of the reporting quarter, Crane NXT received a cash dividend from Crane Co of US$275 million, and it used the proceeds, along with cash on hand, to repay the US$300-million of 4.45-percent notes due in December 2023, it said in the filing.