Actuant 2Q profit falls but results beat Street

NEW YORK (AP) -- Industrial products company Actuant saw its second-quarter net income dip 12 percent as customers grew even more cautious during what is a traditionally weak period.

It was still good enough to beat Wall Street expectations, but the Menomonee Falls, Wis., company cut its full-year earnings and revenue forecasts because of uncertain conditions.

For the three months ended Feb. 28, Actuant Corp. earned $28.4 million, or 38 cents per share. That compares with $32.2 million, or 43 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts expected earnings of 37 cents per share, according to a FactSet survey.

Revenue dipped 2 percent to $370.4 million from $378 million, also beating analyst projections of $366.5 million.

Sales for the electrical unit dropped mostly because of lower solar inverter shipments and weaker industrial transformer demand. The engineered solutions unit also experienced a sales decline due to original equipment manufacturers' destocking in the heavy-duty truck, off-highway equipment and auto markets.

Actuant now anticipates full-year earnings between $2.15 and $2.25 per share on revenue in a range of $1.58 billion to $1.6 billion. Its prior outlook was for earnings between $2.20 and $2.30 per share on revenue in a range of about $1.6 billion to $1.63 billion.

Analysts expect earnings of $2.17 per share on revenue of $1.61 billion.

For the third quarter, Actuant foresees earnings between 63 cents and 68 cents per share on revenue in a range of $410 million to $420 million.

Wall Street expects earnings of 67 cents per share on revenue of $440.7 million.