Brady Corp. earnings decline as firm continues restructuring
Nov 15, 2012 (Menafn - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --Brady Corp. lost ground on sales and earnings in the first quarter of its new fiscal year as the Milwaukee-based global manufacturer continues to restructure, divest business divisions and seek new niches, according to figures released Thursday.
The manufacturer of die-cut and tailor-made parts for electronics companies said net income fell 16.9% to 27.2 million, or 53 cents a share, from 32.7 million, or 62 cents, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding the impact from the sales of Brady Medical in Texas and Varitronics in Minnesota, earnings fell 7.1% to 30.4 million.
Sales fell 3.4% for the three months ended Oct. 31, to 337.6 million. Even factoring out the impact of divested businesses and exchange rates, which affect income when its converted into dollars, "organic" sales declined 1.9%.
Brady, which was acquisition-minded only a few years ago, has been repositioning itself amid the lingering aftereffects of the U.S. slowdown and Europe's economic malaise.
"We are continuing to prune our portfolio of businesses," Chief Executive Frank Jaehnert said in a statement. At the same time, Jaehnert said Brady wants to expand as a parts supplier into new markets, including aerospace and mass transit, chemical, oil and gas, and food and beverage processing.
Brady finished its last fiscal year, which ended in July, with losses that stemmed mainly from a number of severance and restructuring charges.
Looking ahead to the full fiscal 2013, it expects positive earnings between 2.20 and 2.40 a share, excluding any restructuring charges, this year or last. Based on that comparison, the 2013 outlook represents an improvement over the 2.14 per share earnings in 2012, which also excluded restructuring charges. However, Brady last year reported a full-year loss of 35 cents after all taxes and one-time costs were added back in.
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