Specialty vehicles maker Oshkosh Corp. (OSK: Quote) Friday reported a higher profit for its fiscal first quarter, reflecting lower costs, despite a decline in net sales. The company has also raised its earnings outlook for fiscal 2013. In pre-market trading, the shares rose about 8 percent.
Charlie Szews, chief executive officer, said it continued to execute MOVE strategy and it provides a clear roadmap and targets for delivering shareholder value.
In the fourth quarter, net income available to the company’s common shareholders increased to $46.2 million or $0.51 per share from $38.9 million or $0.42 per share in the previous year. On an adjusted basis, earnings from continuing operations for the period were $0.60 per share, while the company posted $0.39 per share last year.
On average, 13 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.32 per share for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.
Net sales declined 6.1 percent to $1.76 billion, but came slightly above analysts’ estimate of $1.73 billion. Lower sales reflected a decline in defense segment sales that fell 21.1 percent from a year earlier. Sales to external customers increased in all non-defense segments, the company said.
Cost of sales decreased to $1.51 billion from $1.65 billion in the preceding year.
During the quarter, the company repurchased about 4.25 million shares of its common stock at an aggregate cost of $125 million.
For the fiscal year 2013, Oshkosh now expects adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $2.80 to $3.05. This compares to the previous forecast of $2.35 to $2.60 per share. GAAP earnings are expected to be in the range of $2.71 to $2.96 per share.
Analysts currently expect the company to report full-year earnings of $2.63 per share.
OSK closed Thursday’s regular trading at $34.58 on the NYSE. In the pre-market activity, the shares are up 8.22 percent.
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by RTT Staff Writer
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