Steelcase Profit Tops Street - Update

(RTTNews) - Office furniture maker Steelcase Inc (SCS), Tuesday reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit led by growth in the Americas, partly offset by lower sales in Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. Results for the quarter also came in above Wall Street estimates.

Steelcase provided some soft earnings guidance for the first quarter even as its sales guidance appear robust.

Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Steelcase posted fourth-quarter net income of $24 million or $0.19 per share, compared with a loss of $27.5 million or $0.22 per share last year.

Results for the prior-year quarter included, among other items, goodwill and asset impairment charges of about $60 million.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.18 per share, compared with earnings of $0.28 per share a year ago.

On average, four analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.17 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Sales for the quarter improved to $779.4 million from $721.4 million a year ago. Analysts expected sales of $773.77 million for the quarter.

Sales in the Americas grew 13.3 percent year-over-year, while EMEA was down 11.1 percent. The company said its Americas segment benefited from a mix of project business from some of its largest corporate customers.

For the first quarter, the company expects earnings of $0.12 to $0.15 per share, adjusted earnings of $0.14 to $0.17 per share and sales of $715 million to $740 million. Analysts currently expect earnings of $0.16 per share on sales of $699.83 million for the quarter.

Steelcase stock closed Tuesday at $14.58, down $0.08 or 0.55%, on a volume of 484k shares on the NYSE. In after hours, the stock dropped $0.07 or 0.51% at $14.51.