STERIS Q3 Earnings Miss Estimates; Trims Earnings Outlook For 2014

(RTTNews) - STERIS Corp. (STE), a provider of healthcare and life science product and service solutions, Wednesday reported a fall in earnings for the third quarter despite growth in revenue. Earnings also fell short of Street view. In addition, the company slashed its earnings per share guidance for 2014.

The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, payable on March 26 to shareholders of record at February 26.

Earnings fell to $28.5 million, or $0.48 per share, from $48.1 million, or $0.82 per share, for the corresponding period last year.

Excluding certain items, earnings increased slightly to $34.9 million, or $0.59 per share, from $34.3 million, or $0.58 per share, a year earlier.

On average, eight analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters estimated the company's earnings to be $0.69 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

In the third quarter last year, results included a favorable $15.8 million pre-tax adjustment attributable to class action settlement liability and an $8.1 million tax benefit related to prior European restructuring efforts.

Revenue for the 3-month period increased to $405.6 million from $380.4 million a year ago. Analysts had estimated $406.36 million.

For the full year, the company slashed its earnings per share outlook to $2.42 - $2.49 from the previous range of $2.47 - $2.60, primarily due to a higher effective tax rate, a decline in international results and investments in the U.S. STERIS anticipates revenue growth of about 9 percent for fiscal 2014.

Analysts expect the company to report earnings per share of $2.50 and revenue of $1.61 billion.

Walt Rosebrough, CEO of STERIS, said, "Our strong performance in the U.S. was somewhat offset by a decline in international revenue and profitability. We continue to anticipate a very strong fourth quarter and a record year, but are trimming our earnings outlook for the full year to reflect our third quarter results."