Emerson Q1 Profit Climbs - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Emerson Electric Co. (EMR), a diversified technology company, reported Tuesday higher first-quarter 2015 net earnings attributable to common shareholders of $525 million or $0.75 per share, compared with $462 million or $0.65 per share, last year. On average, 26 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.72 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company said that the profitability improvement continued, as gross profit margin expanded 90 basis points to 40.8 percent, flowing through to segment margin gains, including the effect of portfolio repositioning. Earnings per share went up by 15 percent mainly on margin expansion, favorable currency transactions and favorable corporate expense comparisons.

The firm announced that its first-quarter net sales of $5.6 billion were flat, as underlying sales growth of 6 percent was offset by 3 percent declines each from currency translation and divestitures. Analysts estimated sales of $5.59 billion for the quarter. Demand was mixed across geographies and markets, with the U.S. up 8 percent and Asia up 2 percent, whilst Europe improved slightly as large projects offset pronounced short cycle weakness. Underlying sales were led by 17 percent growth in Climate Technologies, which benefited from U.S. air conditioning customers increasing inventory in anticipation of regulatory changes, effective January 1, 2015.

Going ahead, full-year earnings would be meaningfully affected by various factors, including unfavorable currency translation, continued weakness in Europe and certain emerging markets, expected pressure from lower oil prices primarily in the second half of 2015, and the sale of the Power Transmission Solutions business.