Briggs reports robust quarter; Quad’s losses deepen with consolidation costs; IPO costs take bite out of Douglas Dynamics’ quarter
Briggs reports robust quarter
Milwaukee-based Briggs & Stratton Corp. posted fiscal fourth quarter net income of $18.2 million, or 36 cents per share, which was up from $5.3 million, or 11 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
The fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 included a $5.8 million pretax charge for plant closure costs.
The company reported fourth quarter consolidated net sales of $615.6 million, an increase of $132.9 million or 27.5% from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.
for the full fiscal year, the company reported net income of $36.6 million, up from $32.0 million in fiscal 2009.
"We continued to execute our operational initiatives to strengthen the company and improve profitability in fiscal 2010," said Todd Teske, president and chief executive officer of Briggs & Stratton. "Despite challenging economic conditions over the past year, operating profits and cash flows from operations increased and significantly improved our balance sheet. Our fiscal 2010 results position us to be successful for either a prolonged economic recovery in the US and Europe or a stronger rebound as consumer confidence returns. We are also pleased that our financial results allowed us to pay our employees the remainder of the salaries and 401(K) company match benefits that were reduced earlier in the fiscal year. The response of our employees to our business challenges during fiscal 2010 was extraordinary."
For fiscal 2011, the company projects that consolidated net income will be in the range of $60 million to $70 million or $1.20 to $1.40 per diluted share.
Quad’s losses deepen with consolidation costs
Sussex-based Quad/Graphics Inc. reported a second quarter net loss of $35.6 million, or $1.27 per share, as it absorbed the costs of acquiring World Color Press Inc.
Quad/Graphics’ quarterly sales grew to $394.3 million from $388.8 million in the same period a year earlier.
Quad/Graphics said last week that it is closing five printing plants as part of its integration of Montreal-based World Color Press.
In a conference call with analysts this morning, Joel Quadracci, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the company, said it has made substantial progress in its integration of World Color Press.
The companies expect about $225 million in annual savings because of the combination within two years, he said.
“We’re creating an industry leader, with a diverse product and service offering,” Quadracci said. “We will have significantly improved our supply chain management capabilities, enhanced our liquidity and cash flow.”
The newly unified company has created a new corporate structure, which it has shared with all employees. It now has 17 separate integration teams that report to a central integration committee.
“We’re off to a fast start (on the integration),” Quadracci said. “We feel confident about where we’re at. We spent a lot of time designing how we would implement this process.”
Quad/Graphics also feels confident about its position in the print market, largely because of its highly diversified product offering and wide geographical footprint.
IPO costs take bite out of Douglas Dynamics’ quarter
Douglas Dynamics Inc., the Milwaukee-based manufacturer of snow and ice control equipment for light trucks that became a public company in May, announced second quarter net income of $100,000, which was down from $5.7 million, or 38 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
Net income in the most recent quarter included $16.6 million in pretax non-recurring expenses incurred at the time of the company’s initial public offering. Adjusted net income (net income excluding the non-recurring expenses), was $9.0 million, or 49 cents per share.
The company’s quarterly net sales were $66.2 million, up 11.1 percent from the same period a year earlier.
James Janik, president and chief executive officer of Douglas Dynamics, said, "We are very pleased with our second quarter performance. We successfully completed our initial public offering and delivered solid operational and financial results. As we concluded our pre-season sales program, we achieved a year-over-year increase in equipment shipments, grew revenue, expanded margins and improved Adjusted EBITDA. In addition, we completed the closure of our manufacturing facility in Johnson City, Tennessee, transferring production to our Rockland, Maine and Milwaukee, Wisconsin facilities, which has and will continue to generate operational efficiencies, incremental cost savings and quality improvements throughout our manufacturing processes."
The company expects net sales for the full year 2010 to range from $175.0 million to $205.0 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $45.0 million to $55.0 million.
