Generac second quarter profit up 16.7 percent; Strattec swings to profit; Rexnord losses deepen; Twin Disc barely profitable in fiscal 2010; Oshkosh Corp. posts $211.2 million profit in third quarter
Generac second quarter profit up 16.7 percent
Waukesha-based Generac Holdings Inc. has announced second quarter net income of $12.8 million, a 16.7 percent increase compared to second quarter 2009 net income of $11.0 million.
However, the company’s net sales for the second quarter were down 6.1 percent to $140.5 million.
“During the second quarter of 2010, we generated strong earnings growth and cash flows from our operations,” said chief executive officer Aaron Jagdfeld. “While our overall topline sales results have been challenged by difficult prior year residential market comparisons and ongoing softness in our industrial markets, our year-over-year sales decline has improved for three consecutive quarters. We continue to make the necessary investments in growth initiatives that leverage our technology, distribution and leading market position which will drive growth as market conditions improve.”
Residential product sales were $87.9 million, down 3.3 percent compared to the second quarter of 2009. Industrial and commercial product sales were $43.3 million, down 15.7 percent compared to the second quarter of 2009.
“As we enter the second half of 2010, we continue to be cautious about the near-term economic environment,” Jagdfeld said. “Given recent positive trends in our industrial and commercial markets and assuming normalized power outage activity through the balance of the year, we are optimistic about our second half financial results. Further, we expect to generate significant cash flows from operations throughout 2010, allowing us to actively pursue our strategic growth initiatives.”
Strattec swings to profit
Improvements in the U.S. auto industry have provided a boost to Glendale-based Strattec Security Corp., which reported net income of $853,000 for the fourth quarter of the company’s 2010 fiscal year, a significant improvement compared to its fiscal 2009 fourth quarter net loss of $2.1 million.
For the full fiscal year Strattec reported a net income of $3.4 million, compared to net loss of $6.1 million for the 2009 fiscal year.
The company’s net sales for the quarter were $61.36 million, up 117 percent from net sales of $28.2 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009. For the full fiscal year the company had net sales of $209 million, up 65 percent compared to net sales of $126 million for the 2009 fiscal year.
Strattec designs, develops, manufactures and markets automotive security products. The company’s two largest customers are Chrysler and General Motors. Sales to Chrysler in the fourth quarter were $21.9 million, compared to $5.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. Sales to General Motors in the fourth quarter were $16 million, compared to $8.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Rexnord losses deepen
West Milwaukee-based Rexnord LLC, a global manufacturing company, reported a 2010 fiscal year first quarter net loss of $116.3 million, a significant increase in its losses compared to a $24.0 million net loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2009.
The company increased its sales in the first quarter to $407 million, an increase of $11 million, or 11 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2009.
“We are pleased with our first quarter performance as we delivered solid organic sales growth and substantial margin expansion compared to the prior year first quarter,” said Todd A. Adams, President and chief executive officer. “As we look ahead, we believe we are increasingly well positioned to deliver solid financial performance as we execute our growth strategies and improve our fundamental operating performance through the deployment of the Rexnord Business System.”
Kohl’s July comparable store sales up 4.1 percent
Menomonee Falls-based Kohl’s Corp. today reported that its comparable store sales rose 4.1 percent in July and its total sales were $1.16 million, an increase of 7.1 percent, compared to July of 2009.
“Our sales results in July were driven by increases in the number of transactions per store, consistent with our trends throughout 2010,” said Kevin Mansell, Kohl’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Average unit retail and units per transaction continue to experience modest declines, indicating that our customer remains cautious in her spending. We are well positioned from a merchandise and inventory perspective as we enter the back-to-school season.”
The company said it now expects earnings of 80 to 82 cents per diluted share in the second quarter, an increase from previous expectations of 70 to 75 cents per diluted share.
Twin Disc barely profitable in fiscal 2010
Racine-based Twin Disc Inc. posted a slim profit of $713,000 in its 2010 fiscal year, down significantly from net earnings of $11.8 million in fiscal 2009.
The company posted net earnings of $2.05 million during the fourth quarter, down 31 percent compared to fiscal 2009 fourth quarter net earnings of $2.97 million.
The company’s fourth quarter sales were $64.3 million, down from $72 million in the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter, but up from fiscal 2010 third quarter sales of $61 million.
The company said its sales are showing sequential quarterly improvements, as a result of strengthening demand from customers in the oil and gas market and stable demand from the airport, rescue and fire fighting, land- and marine-based military, and Asian-Pacific marine markets.
However, those market improvements continue to be offset by weakness in the mega yacht and European markets, the company said.
“We are pleased with many aspects of our fiscal 2010 fourth-quarter and full-year financial and operating results,” said Michael E. Batten, chairman and chief executive officer. “Quarterly sales, margins, profitability and backlog all grew sequentially throughout our fiscal year. Most of this improvement was the direct result of higher sales for our 8500 series transmission to oil and gas customers and we expect this increased level of activity to continue throughout the new fiscal year. The diversity of our end markets, geography and business mix has helped insulate our financial results from continued weakness in the pleasure craft market and weakness from customers in Europe. Our business strategy continues to focus on products, end markets and geographies that are demonstrating growing business and economic characteristics.”
The company’s six-month backlog as of June 30 was $84.4 million, an improvement compared to $60.58 million a year ago and $72.8 million in March, Batten said.
“The improvement in backlog is a result of increased orders by oil and gas customers for our 8500 transmission as stable oil and gas prices have driven demand for new high-horsepower rigs,” he said. “With oil and gas prices remaining firm, we are optimistic demand for our transmissions will continue. In addition, we continue to work on the development of our 7500 series transmission and expect to start production in the second half of fiscal 2011.”
Oshkosh Corp. posts $211.2 million profit in third quarter
Boosted by a truckload of military contracts, Oshkosh Corp. reported net income of $211.2 million, or $2.31 per share, for its fiscal 2010 third quarter. That is a major improvement from the third quarter of fiscal 2009 when the company had a net loss of $26.6 million.
The company had net sales of $2.44 billion during the third quarter, up from net sales of $1.22 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2009.
"Our dedicated and committed employees worked hard to deliver third quarter records for revenue, operating income and EPS, led once again by strong performance in our defense segment," said Robert G. Bohn, Oshkosh Corp. chairman and chief executive officer. "We further improved our balance sheet during the quarter with debt reduction of $175 million. Over the past two years we have retired $1.5 billion of debt as a result of strong free cash flow and $358 million of proceeds from a stock offering.”
During the third quarter, Oshkosh Corp. began production at a new plant in Tianjin, China.
“We expect to gradually ramp up production in this facility over the next 12 months to serve Asian markets as access equipment becomes accepted as a productivity and safety tool for construction and industrial markets in this region,” Bohn said.
The company expects its strong performance continue in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, Bohn said.
"We expect another strong quarterly performance to close what we expect will be a stellar year for Oshkosh in terms of sales and earnings,” he said.
The company expects its non-defense business to pick up in 2011, but its defense work should diminish some next year, Bohn said.
“Looking forward to fiscal 2011, we expect that our defense segment performance will provide a solid foundation to what we anticipate will be a gradual economic recovery, although we will not attain defense segment revenue levels that approach our fiscal 2010 defense performance because we will have completed the bulk of our M-ATV (MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle ) shipments in fiscal 2010,” he said. “We believe that our non-defense businesses will generally achieve higher revenues in fiscal 2011, as the economy improves. Fiscal 2011 will also be a year in which we continue our focus on improving both our operations and our customers’ experiences with our company.”
