U.S.-based Crane Co on Monday reported a 22.2-percent increase in net income for the three months ended June 30 compared with a year earlier. The company is a supplier of payment and merchandising technology to the gaming industry.
New York Stock Exchange-listed Crane posted net income of US$68.2 million for the second quarter of 2016, or US$1.15 per diluted share, compared to US$55.8 million, or US$0.95 per share, in the second quarter of 2015.
Crane reported net sales of US$712.2 million for the period, up 0.1 percent compared to the prior-year period.
Operating profit in the April to June period increased to US$102.6 million, compared to US$90.2 million in the prior-year period.
“We are pleased with our second quarter results,” said Crane president and chief executive, Max Mitchell.“We drove strong execution across all segments, order trends were consistent with our expectations,” he added.
Gaming is just one of the segments served by Crane. The company also provides high-specification engineered industrial products to customers in the aerospace, electronics, hydrocarbon processing, petrochemical, chemical, power generation, automated merchandising, transportation and other markets.
The firm’s payment and merchandising technology division – which supplies products to clients in the casino industry – recorded sales of US$193 million for the three months ended June 30, up by 3.2 percent in year-on-year terms. The segment recorded operating profit of US$34 million for the period, up by 32 percent from the prior-year period, an increase “driven primarily by integration synergies, higher volumes and strong productivity”, Crane said in a release.
The firm also stated it was raising the earning per share guidance to a range of US$3.95 to US$4.15 for full year 2016, versus a prior range of US$3.85 to US$4.15. The management continues to expect that sales for 2016 will approximate US$2.7 billion.
Crane also announced on Monday its regular quarterly dividend of US$0.33 per share for the third quarter of 2016. The dividend is payable on September 9 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 31.
