GGRAsia – Crane posts sharp 3Q profit drop

Crane posts sharp 3Q profit drop

Oct 28, 2014 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News

U.S.-based Crane Co on Monday reported a sharp drop in net income for the three months ended September 30 compared with a year earlier. The company, a supplier of payment and merchandising technology to the gaming industry, said the results were impacted by several after-tax charges.

New York Stock Exchange-listed Crane posted net income of US$28.1 million for the third quarter of 2014, down 50.9 percent in year-on-year terms, or US$0.47 per diluted share, compared to US$0.97 per share in the third quarter of 2013.

The firm explained the results were impacted by the inclusion of US$38.7 million in after-tax charges related to updated “projected remediation costs for certain legacy environmental liabilities”, repositioning activities and the December 2013 acquisition of MEI Conlux Holdings Inc.

Crane reported net sales of US$727.4 million for the period, an increase 14.1 percent compared to a year earlier.

Operating profit in the third quarter decreased 46.4 percent to US$47.7 million, compared to US$89.0 million in the third quarter of 2013. Crane said that, excluding special items, third quarter operating profit increased 17.6 percent to US$108.0 million.

“While overall margins were strong, third quarter results fell short of our expectations primarily as a result of lower core sales in our fluid handling business,” said Crane president and chief executive Max Mitchell.

The company revised its 2014 earnings guidance to a range of US$3.43 to US$3.53 per diluted share, from a range of US$4.18 to US$4.38 per diluted share.

Crane also announced on Monday its regular quarterly dividend of US$0.33 per share for the fourth quarter of 2014. The dividend is payable on December 9 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 28.

Gaming is just one of the segments served by Crane. The 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.