Pentair Q4 Profit Down; Cuts 2015 EPS View - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Pentair plc (PNR) reported that its fourth-quarter net income attributable to the company declined to $128.8 million from the prior year's $158.2 million, with earnings per share decreasing to $0.69 from $0.78 last year.

Adjusted fourth quarter 2014 earnings per share from continuing operations were $1.06, up 23 percent from $0.86 in the fourth quarter of last year.

Net sales for the quarter dropped to $1.803 billion from $1.831 billion in the prior year. Sales were down 2 percent compared to sales for the same period last year. Excluding the unfavorable impact of currency translation, core sales grew 2 percent in the fourth quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.03 per share and revenues of $1.85 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

In addition, the company introduced first quarter 2015 earnings per share guidance of $0.75 - $0.77, up approximately 7 percent on an adjusted basis versus the same quarter last year's adjusted earnings per share. The company expects first quarter revenue to be approximately $1.6 billion, which would be down 2 to 3 percent on a reported basis and up 2 to 3 percent on a core basis compared to first quarter 2014 revenue. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $0.83 per share and revenues of $1.64 billion for the first-quarter.

The company updated its full year 2015 earnings per share outlook to a range of $4.10 - $4.25 from a range of $4.20 - $4.35 reflecting the anticipated unfavorable impact of foreign currency translation. On an adjusted basis, this would represent an increase of 10 percent over 2014 adjusted EPS of $3.78. The company anticipates full year 2015 sales of $6.9 billion, or down approximately 2 percent on a reported basis and up 2 to 3 percent on a core sales basis. Wall Street currently is looking for fiscal year 2015 earnings of $4.27 per share on annual revenues of $7.15 billion.