Applied Industrial Q4 Profit Down, Meets View; Sees FY17 Earnings Below Market

(RTTNews) - Industrial distributor Applied Industrial Technologies Inc. (AIT) reported Friday that its fourth-quarter net income was $26.07 million or $0.66 per share, compared to $28.05 million, or $0.70 per share a year ago.

On average, six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.66 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the quarter were $634.01 million, a decrease of 6.4% from $677.54 million in the same quarter a year ago. Analysts were looking for sales of $642.28 million for the quarter.

In the quarter, a 2.4% increase from acquisition-related volume was offset by a 7.6% decrease in underlying operations and a negative 1.2% foreign currency translation impact. Of the 7.6% decrease in underlying operations, 3.9% is attributable to sales in traditional core operations with the remainder associated with sales in operations serving the upstream oil and gas markets.

Applied's President & Chief Executive Officer Neil Schrimsher said, "Our fourth quarter and full-year results reflect an economic environment that continues to be challenging. Sequentially, fourth quarter demand was generally flat compared to the third quarter, including reduced demand in oil and gas, mining and other industrial end markets."

Further, the company provided its initial outlook for fiscal year 2017. For the full year, the Company is forecasting a sales change in the range of negative 3.0% to up 1.0%, and expects earnings per share in the range of $2.40 to $2.60 per share. Analysts expect earnings of $2.66 per share for the year 2017.