Danaher Q4 Profit Falls, Adj. Results Top View; Cuts Full-year EPS Forecast

(RTTNews) - Diversified machinery maker Danaher Corp. (DHR) Tuesday said its fourth-quarter net earnings fell to $661.7 million from $789.3 million last year. Earnings per share were $0.92, compared to $1.11 in the prior year. Adjusted earnings per share totaled $1.04, while it amounted to $0.96 last year. On average, 13 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $ 1.03 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Sales for the quarter grew to $5.417 billion from last year's $5.267 billion. Wall Street expected revenues of $5.39 billion. Looking ahead, the company expects adjusted net earnings per share for the first quarter to be in the range of $0.90 to $0.94. The company also updated its full-year 2015 adjusted net earnings per share guidance to $4.30 to $4.40. The strengthening of the US dollar since December is expected to reduce 2015 earnings by around $0.10 per share. Danaher anticipates offsetting $0.05 per share of this currency impact from savings associated with incremental fourth quarter 2014 productivity initiatives, recent acquisitions, and other actions. Core revenue for the full year 2015 is estimated to grow between 3 and 4 percent. In December 2014, the firm had expected adjusted net earnings for 2015 in the range of $4.35 to $4.45 per share, on projected core revenue growth between 3 and 4 percent.