Menomonee Falls-based Actuant Corp. reported a second quarter net loss of $64.8 million, or $1.05 lost per share, in the second quarter, compared with net income of $41.4 million, or 56 cents per share, in the second quarter of 2014.
The global industrial firm’s quarterly operating loss was $56.4 million, compared with operating profit of $39 million in the same period a year ago.
Revenue was $301 million in the quarter, down from $327.8 million in the second quarter of 2014.
Actuant took an $84.4 million impairment charge during the quarter related to adverse conditions in upstream oil & gas markets. It also saw a $10.1 million loss in cash during the quarter as a result of the effect of exchange rate changes.
“In addition to normal seasonality, the second quarter proved challenging given the further strengthening of the U.S. dollar, low oil & gas prices and weak conditions across a number of end markets,” said Mark Goldstein, president and chief executive officer. “The Energy segment’s results were in line with expectations, including 2 percent core sales growth which reflected robust Viking performance, partially offset by accelerating weakness in other upstream markets, most notably in the North Sea. We were pleased with Industrial’s 2 percent core growth, yet demand remains inconsistent. Within Engineered Solutions, moderating agriculture demand, weak auto volumes and last year’s truck pre-buy drove an 8 percent core sales decline. Given these mixed end market dynamics and currency headwinds, we are executing a number of actions to better align and resize our organization.”
Actuant also announced a 7 million share repurchase program.
The company has repurchased 11 million shares, or about 15 percent of its stock, over the past year. Actuant currently has 9.5 million in shares authorized for repurchase, which it plans to do gradually over the next few years.
“Our capital allocation priorities remain consistent,” Goldstein said. “Our top priority is to execute attractive tuck-in acquisitions to strengthen our existing platforms. However, we will continue to use opportunistic buy-backs to return excess cash to shareholders.”
