Valmont Industries Q1 Profit Down 28%, Lowers 2014 Earnings Outlook

(RTTNews) - Fabricated metal products maker Valmont Industries, Inc. (VMI) on Tuesday reported a 28 percent decline in profit for the first quarter from last year, reflecting lower sales at its utility support structures as well as irrigation segments. Looking ahead, the company lowered its earnings outlook for fiscal 2014.

Mogens Bay, Valmont's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "In contrast to last year's exceptional irrigation results driven by high farm income, this year's significantly lower crop commodity prices and a projected decline in North American farm income led to a reduction in irrigation equipment sales."

First-quarter net earnings attributable to Omaha, Nebraska-based Valmont Industries decreased to $55.98 million or $2.08 per share from $77.57 million or $2.89 per share in the year-ago period.

Adjusted net earnings attributable to Valmont for the quarter was $59.37 million or $2.20 per share. On average, five analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $2.15 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the quarter decreased 8 percent to $751.74 million from $819.63 million in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $793.75 million for the quarter.

Utility support structures segment sales for the quarter declined 10 percent from the prior-year period to $214.73 million, but accounted for 27 percent of the quarter's sales. Irrigation segment sales decreased 13 percent to $212.73 million and also accounted for 27 percent of sales for the quarter.

Engineered Infrastructure Products segment sales rose 2 percent from the year-ago period to $228.46 million and represented 29 percent of quarterly sales. Coatings segment sales decreased 8 percent to $82.17 million and accounted for 10 percent of sales for the quarter.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2014, Valmont Industries forecast earnings in a range of $10.00 to $10.50 per share on a slight increase in sales. Earlier, the company projected earnings to be "slightly below" adjusted earnings of $10.97 per share in 2013. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $10.30 per share for the year on 3.1 percent increase in revenues to $3.41 billion.

VMI closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $155.02, up $1.82 or 1.19 percent on a volume of 348,154 shares. However, in after-hours, the stock declined $4.77 or 3.08 percent to $150.25.