Tech supplier Crane Co posts US$29 million 4Q net loss
Crane Co, a U.S.-based industrial conglomerate that supplies payment and merchandising technology to the gaming industry, reported a fourth-quarter net loss of US$28.7 million, compared to a net loss of US$64.0 million in the prior-year period.
The firm said on Monday the results included a tax charge of US$87.1 million; a net after-tax charge of US$8.0 million related to repositioning; and an after-tax charge of US$4.6 million for merger-and-acquisition related items.
Crane Co completed this month the acquisition of Crane and Co Inc – also known as Crane Currency – for US$800 million. The latter firm is a supplier of micro-optic technology, which can be used for security purposes for specialised products such as printed banknotes.
Crane Co reported fourth quarter 2017 sales of US$714.2 million, up 4.8 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2016.
The firm’s payment and merchandising technology division – which supplies products to clients in the casino industry – recorded a slight year-on-year sales decrease of 0.1 percent, to US$194.4 million in the three months to December 31. Operating profit for the segment decreased by 33.9 percent in year-on-year terms to US$25.4 million.
As well as providing payment and merchandising technology to the gaming industry, Crane Co also supplies highly engineered industrial products to customers including companies in the aerospace, electronics, hydrocarbon processing, petrochemical, chemical, power generation, automated merchandising and transportation markets.
Crane Co’s overall net income in full year 2017 was US$171.8 million, an increase of 39.9 percent compared to US$122.8 million in 2016, the firm said on Monday. The New York Stock Exchange-listed firm posted earnings of US$2.84 per diluted share for 2017, compared to US$2.07 per share in the previous year.
Full-year group sales stood at US$2.79 billion, a slight increase compared to US$2.75 billion in 2016.
“While there is a lot of exciting activity in our core business, including strong execution on growth and productivity initiatives, several other developments are also contributing to our positive outlook,” said Max Mitchell, Crane Co’s president and chief executive, in a statement accompanying the results.
He added: “Earlier this month, we closed on the Crane Currency acquisition, the second-largest transaction in Crane Co’s history… We believe that the combined businesses will be stronger together… The integration is well under way, and we expect Crane Currency to contribute US$0.15 of adjusted earnings per share in 2018, growing to approximately US$1.00 of earnings per share annually by 2021.”
Crane Co also revised its guidance for earnings per share for full-year 2018. The firm now expects earnings to range between US$4.65 to US$4.85 per share.
On December 5, Crane Co had introduced preliminary 2018 full year earnings guidance of US$4.85 to US$5.05 per diluted share, excluding any potential impact from the then-pending Crane Currency acquisition.
The firm additionally announced on Monday a 6-percent increase in its regular quarterly dividend, to US$0.35 per share from US$0.33 per share. The latest dividend is payable on March 9, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 28.
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