Valmont Cuts FY14 Earnings Outlook

(RTTNews) - Valmont Industries, Inc. (VMI) said Thursday that it now expect ful year 2014 earnings per share to be in the range of $8.70 to $8.90, excluding any effects of the company's financing transactions announced on September 8, and its share repurchase program.

Full year 2014 earnings per share including the effects of the share repurchases to date are expected to be between $9.00 and $9.20.

Previously, the company expected full year 2014 earnings of $9.35 to $9.65 per share, which excluded the effect of its stock repurchase program on earnings per share and any one-time adjustments.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters currently expect the company to earn $9.45 per share for the full year 2014. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company said that in its Utility Support Structures Segment, over $40 million of projects scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2014 have been delayed by customers to fiscal 2015. Pricing in certain sectors of the market continues to be challenging.

In the Irrigation Segment, the company now expects segment operating earnings in the second half of 2014 to be about 10% below the same period of 2013.

The company noted that the Australian industrial economy continues to experience softness, which affect its Coatings and Engineered Infrastructure Products segments.

Valmont said it will report third quarter earnings on October 23.