Motorola Solutions Q3 Profit Down; Expands Share Buyback - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Motorola Solutions Inc. (MSI) reported that its net earnings attributable to the company for the third quarter of 2014 decreased to $147 million from $307 million in the same quarter last year. On a per share basis, net income was $0.59 lower than the previous year's $1.16.

Non-GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations declined to $0.62 from $1.08 last year.

Net sales for the quarter dropped to $1.436 billion from $1.517 billion in the previous year. Sales declined 5 percent to $1.4 billion primarily reflecting lower sales in North America and Asia-Pacific. Product sales declined 8 percent driven primarily by lower devices revenues, while Services declined 1 percent.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.41 per share and revenues of $1.39 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company also announced that its board of directors has approved a $5 billion increase to the share repurchase program following receipt of $3.45 billion from the sale of its Enterprise business, raising the total authorization since July 2011 to $12 billion. Under the company's previously authorized $7 billion share repurchase program, $600 million remained as of the end of the third quarter of 2014. The company may continue to repurchase shares from time to time in the open market or in other privately negotiated transactions, subject to market conditions.

For the Fourth quarter 2014, Motorola Solutions expects a revenue decline of 1 to 3 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2013, with non-GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations in the range of $1.13 to $1.19 per share. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $1.19 per share and revenues of $1.84 billion for the fourth-quarter.

This is consistent with the company's prior full-year outlook of low- to mid-single digit revenue decline, excluding iDEN.

The company said it is ahead of schedule with operating cost reductions, expecting to achieve more than $200 million in savings in 2014 and on track to achieve approximately $300 million by the end of 2015. This will result in a total reduction in operating expenses from $2 billion in 2013 to approximately $1.7 billion for 2015.