Motorola Solutions Q2 Tops View, Says Silver Lake To Invest $1 Bln In Company

(RTTNews) - Motorola Solutions, Inc. (MSI) Wednesday said its second-quarter attributable earnings plunged to $142 million from $824 million in the previous year. Earnings per share declined to $0.68 from $3.22.

Earnings per share from continuing operations increased to $0.72 from $0.30. Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations was $0.68, while it totaled $0.47 last year. On average, 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.54 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Sales fell 2 percent to $1.368 billion from $1.393 billion last year. Analysts expected revenues of $1.34 billion.

Motorola Solutions also said that its board of directors approved proceeding with a tender offer to repurchase up to $2 billion of common stock. The company expects to commence a tender offer on or about August 7.

For the third quarter, the company expects non-GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations in the range of $0.68 to $0.73 per share, and a revenue decline of 1 to 3 percent.

For the full year, the company still expects adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations in the range of $3.20 to $3.40 per share, and its revenue outlook remains unchanged as revenue is expected to be flat to down 2 percent.

Separately, Motorola Solutions said Silver Lake, a leader in technology investing, would make a $1 billion investment in the company.

The company expects to use the Silver Lake investment to accelerate growth in its smart public safety solutions and services businesses through new partnerships, investments and acquisitions.

Under the terms of the agreement, Silver Lake is purchasing $1 billion aggregate principal amount of 2.0 percent convertible senior notes due 2020 with an initial conversion price of $68.50 per share.

The initial conversion price represents a conversion premium of 17 percent over the volume-weighted average price of the company's common stock sale price of $58.55 per share on the New York Stock Exchange during the 30 trading days ended August 4, 2015.