Brady Corporation narrows loss
Brady Corporation said its sales the fiscal 2014 fourth quarter increased 2.0 percent to $316.7 million compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013.
Total organic sales increased 1.1 percent. By segment, organic sales were up 1.2 percent in Identification Solutions and 0.9 percent in Workplace Safety.
The company had a net loss $97.0 million, or $1.89 per share, compared to a loss of $175.6 million, or $3.40 per share, in the same quarter last year.
During the quarter, Brady recorded an impairment charge of $148.6 million related to acquisition of Precision Dynamics Corporation, which primarily sells identification products into the healthcare industry. PDC’s organic sales declined low single digits for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2014 and are forecasted to grow at a slower pace than originally anticipated.
Sales from continuing operations for the year were up 5.8 percent to $1.23 billion compared to $1.16 billion in fiscal 2013. Organic sales were up 0.2 percent. By segment, organic sales were up 2.9 percent in Identification Solutions and down 4.6 percent in Workplace Safety.
Net loss for the year was $48.1 million, or 93 cents per share, compared to a loss of $138.3 million, or $2.70, for fiscal 2013.
“Although we had organic sales growth, we were not pleased with our profitability performance as we continued to incur costs related to the consolidation of our facilities and have been experiencing challenges in terms of sales mix and pricing," said Brady President and CEO J. Michael Nauman. "Our overall facility consolidation efforts have been scaled back, and we will continue to execute the facility consolidation activities in a manner that will allow us to maintain the highest service levels and least disruptions to our customers while still achieving efficiency gains over the long run."
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