IDEX Q3 Profit Surges, Beats Estimates; Guides Q4 In Line, Lifts FY09 Forecast - Update

(RTTNews) - Engineered industrial products company, IDEX Corp. (IEX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating), Monday reported a jump in second quarter profit that came in ahead of Street estimates, helped by lower expenses and higher operating income. Sales, however, dropped from a year ago, reflecting softness in demand in all its segments. Nevertheless, revenues for the quarter were in line with estimates. Looking ahead, IDEX said it currently expects fourth quarter earnings to be in line with estimates, and raised its full-year forecast from the prior level.

For the third quarter, reported net income of the Northbrook, Illinois-based company surged 50% to $29.78 million from $19.88 million in the same quarter a year ago. On a per share basis, earnings jumped 54% to $0.37 from $0.24 in the year-ago quarter. Excluding the impact of restructuring related charges, adjusted earnings were $0.39 per share, down 25% or $0.13 from the third quarter of the previous year.

On average, 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.35 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimate typically excludes one-time items.

IDEX's sales for the quarter dropped 12% to $323.25 million from $365.19 million in the prior-year quarter, roughly in line with Street estimates of $323.57 million.

Segment wise, sales from Fluid & Metering Technologies and Health & Science Technologies both dropped 8% to $157 million and $76 million, respectively. The organic decline was primarily due to continued market softness in the non-core HST businesses. Meanwhile, sales from Dispensing Equipment fell 19% to $26 million, as a result of continued deterioration in capital spending for both the North American and European markets. Fire & Safety/Diversified Products sales also declined 19% to $66 million.

Lawrence Kingsley Chief Executive Officer said, "We achieved solid profit performance and excellent cash flow in the third quarter. Our operating model and flexible cost structure once again illustrates that we can limit the unfavorable margin impact in a down sales environment while continuing to focus on growing market share, demonstrating outstanding responsiveness to changing order patterns and new business opportunities."

Sequentially, in the second quarter, IDEX reported a sharp decline in profit impacted by charges related to restructuring, as well as lower revenues. Net income for the quarter was $27.92 million or $0.34 per share and revenues were $336.45 million.

Amongst others in the industry, Diversified machinery company Dover Corp. (DOV | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating), in its second quarter, reported a profit that declined to $97.08 million or $0.52 per share from $135.28 million or $0.71 per share, as all segments of the company witnessed a drop in revenue. Revenues were down 31% at $1.390 billion.

Another player, Roper Industries Inc. (ROP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating), an engineered products and solutions provider, reported a decrease in second quarter earnings of $59.6 million or $0.64 per share, compared to $74.52 million or $0.79 per share in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly sales were down at $504.91 million.

Operating income of IDEX, for the quarter under review, rose 51% to $46.52 million from $30.80 million in the year-earlier quarter. New orders in the quarter totaled $339 million, down 4% compared to the prior-year period.

Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased to $79.79 million from $81.61 million in the comparable quarter a year ago. Restructuring expenses also dropped to $2.75 million from $5.28 million in the same quarter a year ago.

For the nine-month period, earnings of IDEX were down at $80.30 million or $0.99 per share, compared to $104.55 million or $1.26 per share in the year-ago period. Sales decreased to $986.32 million from $1.13 billion in the prior-year period.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, IDEX said it expects earnings in the range of $0.35 to $0.37 per share, based on current conditions, while the Street currently expects earnings of $0.36 per share for the quarter.

For the full year, the company continues to expect organic revenue to decline about 15%, and currently sees adjusted earnings in the range of $1.44 to $1.46 per share. The company's previous forecast was in the range of $1.35 to $1.45 per share. Analysts currently expects earnings of $1.41 per share for the year.

On September 16, 2009, brokerage Robert W. Baird, downgraded IDEX shares to 'Neutral' from 'Outperform,' with a mean target of $26.57.

IEX closed Monday's regular trading at $29.76, up $0.57 or 1.95%, on a volume of 0.70 million shares. In after-hours, the stock dropped $0.09 or 0.29%, to trade at $29.67. In the last 52-week period, the stock traded in the range of $16.67 to $29.94, with a three-month average volume of 0.48 million shares.

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