Clarcor Q4 Profit Down 10%, Results Miss View

(RTTNews) - Air filter maker Clarcor Inc. (CLC) on Wednesday reported a 10 percent decline in profit for the fourth quarter from last year, as higher sales were offset by acquisition-related costs. Both revenue and adjusted earnings per share missed analysts' estimates.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2014, Clarcor forecast earnings per share below Street expectations, but projected revenue above their estimates.

Franklin, Tennessee-based Clarcor's net income for the fourth quarter was $32.86 million or $0.65 per share, down from $36.31 million or $0.72 per share in the same period last year.

The latest quarter's results were impacted by $2.7 million of acquisition-related costs expensed in the quarter. These costs negatively impacted earnings per share by about $0.04 and operating margin by 0.9 percentage points.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings per share for the quarter was $0.69, compared to $0.72 in the prior-year period. On average, six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.70 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the quarter rose 2 percent to $297.79 million from $292.91 million in the year-ago period. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $304.09 million.

Gross margin declined 1.4 percentage points from last year to 33.1 percent, while operating margin declined 1.5 percentage points to 16.6 percent.

For fiscal 2013, Clarcor's net income declined to $118.08 million or $2.34 per share from $122.99 million or $2.42 per share in the prior year. Adjusted earnings per share for the year were $2.47, compared to $2.42 per share in the previous year. Net sales rose 1 percent to $1.13 billion from $1.12 billion last year.

Analysts expected the company to earn $2.49 per share for the year on revenues of $1.14 billion.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2014, Clarcor forecasts consolidated earnings -inclusive of anticipated results from the GE Air Filtration and Bekaert Advanced Filtration acquisitions - in a range of $2.55 to $2.70 per share. The company forecast consolidated net sales for the year between $1.41 billion and $1.47 billion.

Street expects the company to report earnings of $2.73 per share for the year on revenues of 1.22 billion.

CLC closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $64.81, up $0.59 or 0.92 percent on a volume of 220,332 shares. In after-hours, the stock further gained $0.19 or 0.29 percent to $65.00.