Applied 4Q sales decline but full year sales up by 13 percent
Applied Industrial Technologies reported net sales for its fiscal fourth quarter decreased 1.7 percent to $882.7 million from $897.7 million in the prior year.
The change in sales includes a 2.2 percent increase from acquisitions, partially offset by a negative 0.4 percent from foreign currency and a negative 0.8 percent selling day impact.
Net income was $39.8 million, or $1.02 per share, compared to $40.4 million, or $1.03 per share, in the prior year.
"Consistent with recent macroeconomic industrial reports, we saw a slowing in demand across industrial, process, and energy end markets during the quarter. Combined with ongoing fluid power technology market headwinds and difficult comparisons, our sales declined organically," said Neil A. Schrimsher, president and CEO.
For the full year ended June 30, 2019, sales were $3.47 billion, an increase of 13.0 percent compared with $3.07 billion last year, or 1.9 percent on an organic daily basis. Net income was $144.0 million on a reported basis, or $3.68 per share.
For fiscal 2020, Applied is forecasting an EPS range of $4.20 to $4.50 on a change in sales of down 2 percent to up 2 percent, including down 5 percent to down 1 percent on an organic daily basis.
"We are mindful of broader industrial cycle uncertainty entering fiscal 2020, which is reflected in our guidance. While reinforcing our cost discipline and cash generation potential near-term, we remain focused on our long-term growth strategy and believe our products and solutions are increasingly critical given an aging and tighter industrial labor force, more sophisticated production equipment and processes, a focus on plant floor optimization, and compliance and regulatory requirements," Schrimsher said.
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