Illinois Tool Works Reaffirms 2017 Performance Expectations - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) announced the company expects 2017 earnings to be in the range of $6.00 to $6.20 per share with organic growth of 1.5 to 3.5%. ITW also expects operating margin to exceed 23.5% and free cash flow conversion to exceed 100% for the full-year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report profit per share of $6.14. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company expects first-quarter earnings to be in the range of $1.39 to $1.49 per share with organic growth of 1 to 2%. The company expects operating margin to exceed 22.5%. Analysts expect the company to report first-quarter profit per share of $1.44.

Fourth-quarter GAAP earnings were $1.45 per share, including $0.06 of non-recurring items, an increase of 18% versus the fourth quarter of 2015. Foreign currency translation reduced EPS by 2% year-on-year. Excluding the non-recurring items, fourth-quarter earnings were $1.39 per share, an increase of 13% versus the prior year. On average, 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $1.37 for the quarter.

Fourth-quarter revenue grew 4% year-on-year to $3.40 billion. Organic revenue increased 2% while the 2016 acquisition of Engineered Fasteners & Components (EF&C) added 4% to revenue. Foreign currency translation reduced revenue by 2% year-on-year and Product Line Simplification (PLS) reduced revenue by approximately 1%. Analysts expected revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter.