Franklin Electric Cuts Q2 Earnings Outlook

(RTTNews) - Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (FELE) said Friday that it expects second quarter adjusted earnings per share to be about $0.35, compared to its prior guidance of $0.54 to $0.58, due to significantly lower sales.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters currently expect the company to report earnings of $0.52 per share for the second quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Second quarter revenues were about $37 million below the second quarter 2014, and guidance, with the vast majority of the decline occurring during May and June, the company said in a statement.

Gregg Sengstack, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Franklin Electric, said, "Record rainfall during May and June in North America, especially in the Central region of the U.S., lower than expected shipments of the Pioneer branded de-watering equipment that largely supports the oil exploration end markets in the U.S., a significant slowing in the growth of our business in Brazil and further weakening of key developing region currencies all drove results significantly below our initial estimates for the quarter."

The company said it continues to take cost-cutting actions to better position itself for the future. With the actions, if the revenue decline in the second half of the year is similar to the first half, down about 8% as compared to the second half of 2014, the company expects its earnings to be about the same as the second half of 2014. If the decline is less, then the company's earnings should show year-over-year improvement.