Toro reports record second-quarter results
The Toro Company reported net earnings of $78.4 million, or $1.32 per share, on a net sales increase of 1.9 percent to $704.5 million for its fiscal second quarter ended May 3, 2013. In the comparable fiscal 2012 period, the company delivered net earnings of $68.8 million, or $1.13 per share, on net sales of $691.5 million.
For the first six months, Toro reported net earnings of $109.8 million, or $1.85 per share, on a net sales increase of 3 percent to $1,149.1 million. In the comparable fiscal 2012 period, the company posted net earnings of $88.7 million, or $1.46 per share, on net sales of $1,115.3 million.
“We achieved record sales and earnings in the quarter, despite this year’s challenging weather pattern compared to a year ago,” said Michael J. Hoffman, Toro’s chairman and chief executive officer. “In 2012, we enjoyed ideal spring conditions with a warm, early start to the season, while this year much of North America and Europe have dealt with unusually cold weather. These conditions delayed sales, especially of our residential products which are more immediately impacted by weather. Improved market conditions for some of our professional customers, combined with new products and solid execution, fueled shipment growth that offset the delay of our residential shipments. Through the first six months, our golf and micro irrigation businesses have been strong, and our professional sales in Europe and Asia are ahead of last year. While our earnings benefited from mix and timing, I’m pleased to see our productivity efforts yielding results on the path to our Destination 2014 operating earnings goal.”
“Even with a marginal winter season and late start to spring, we remain cautiously optimistic about the remainder of the year,” Hoffman added. “Retail activity in our residential business started to pick up in late April, and the momentum is continuing in May. Looking forward, we face favorable comparisons to last year, when much of the United States struggled with drought conditions during the summer months. Since we are not likely to make up all of the impact from the late start to spring, including a resulting increase in field inventory, we are tempering our revenue growth expectations for the year. Despite lower sales growth, we are maintaining our earnings outlook on the strength of productivity gains and favorable commodity trends, somewhat offset by anticipated pressures from mix and manufacturing utilization in the second half of the year.”
The company now expects revenue growth for fiscal 2013 to be about 3 to 4 percent, and continues to expect net earnings to be about $2.40 to $2.45 per share, or an increase of about 12 to 15 percent over fiscal 2012.
