Tyco International Q1 Profit Up

(RTTNews) - Swiss security products maker Tyco International Ltd. (TYC) Friday reported a higher first-quarter profit, reflecting 2 percent rise in revenues and lower expenses.

Chief Executive Officer George Oliver said, "We are off to a great start to the fiscal year. Our results this quarter were driven by strong execution across all three segments, resulting in 15% growth in earnings per share before special items... We are well positioned across our businesses and markets to continue to deliver strong results in 2014 and for the longer term." During the quarter, the firm completed acquisition of Westfire, Inc., a special-applications fire protection services provider with operations in the U.S., Chile and Peru. Westfire provides critical special-hazard suppression and detection applications in mining, telecommunications and other vertical markets.

For the first quarter, net income attributable to shareholders increased to $270 million or $0.57 per share from $163 million or $0.34 per share in the previous year.

Excluding special items, earnings per share were $0.47 for the recent quarter, while the company posted $0.41 per share last year.

On average, 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.45 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net revenues for the quarter rose 2 percent to $2.65 billion from $2.60 billion in the prior-year quarter, and came above analysts' estimate of $2.63 billion. The company noted that acquisitions contributed two percentage points of growth, which was mostly offset by the impact of divestitures and changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

Revenue from product sales increased to $1.49 billion from $1.44 billion a year ago. Service revenue was $1.15 billion, compared to $1.16 billion in the preceding year.

North America Installation & Services revenue decreased 2 percent mainly due to divestiture of guarding business, the firm said. Revenue from Rest of World Installation & Services increased 3 percent, and Global Products revenue was up 6 percent from last year.

Selling, general and administrative expenses declined to $599 million from $682 million in the prior year. TYC closed Thursday's regular trading at $39.67 on the NYSE.