Brink's Co shares tumble, 3Q profit falls 56 pct

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Shares of The Brink's Co. fell Thursday after the armored car company said its third-quarter net income plunged 56 percent, as revenue and operating earnings from its international business sank.

The Richmond, Va., company said total earnings fell to $13.5 million, or 28 cents per share, from $30.8 million, or 64 cents per share, in last year's quarter. Adjusted earnings were 50 cents per share, excluding severance costs and retirement plan expenses among other items.

Revenue slipped 2 percent to $979 million.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected, on average, earnings of 61 cents per share on $1.01 billion in revenue.

The price of company shares dropped 6.6 percent, or $1.81, to close at $25.57 while broader trading indexes advanced slightly.

Brink's said operating earnings from its international business fell 17 percent to $51 million, while revenue from that business dropped about 2 percent to $744 million. In particular, the company recorded a $4 million government receivable write off in Argentina.

Brink's officials said in a statement that lower results in Latin America countered higher earnings in Europe and North America.

The company's selling, general and administrative expenses also climbed 8 percent to $147.4 million.

Brinks said it still expects revenue for the year to rise 5 percent to 8 percent, implying a range of $4.08 billion to $4.2 billion. Wall Street is expecting revenue of $3.96 billion on average, with estimates ranging from $3.92 billion to $3.99 billion.