Meritor Turns To Profit In Q3, Results Beat View; Lifts 2014 Earnings Outlook

(RTTNews) - Autoparts maker Meritor, Inc. (MTOR) Thursday said its third-quarter net income attributable to the company was $234 million or $2.31 per share, compared to net loss of $38 million or $0.39 per share in the same period last year.

Net income for the quarter included $209 million from the antitrust settlement with Eaton Corp. plc (ETN), including recovery of legal fees.

Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations was $0.28, compared to adjusted earnings of $0.34 per share in the same period last year. On average, 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.15 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Sales for the quarter declined 1 percent to $986 million from $993 million in the year-ago period. Wall Street expected revenues of $974.85 million for the quarter.

The decrease in sales was primarily due to lower commercial truck production in South America and the continued step down in revenue from the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles or FMTV program, which more than offset higher commercial truck production in North America.

For fiscal 2014, Meritor raised its outlook for adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations to a range of $0.65 to $0.75 from the prior range of $0.50 to $0.60. However, the company reaffirmed its revenue guidance in a range of $3.75 billion to $3.8 billion, assuming constant currency.

Analysts expect earnings of $0.61 per share for the year on revenues of $3.78 billion.