Donaldson Reports Record Fourth Quarter and Full-Year Results
Monday, August 29th, 2011
MINNEAPOLIS–(CRWENEWSWIRE) — Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) announced its financial results for its fiscal 2011 fourth quarter. Summarized financial results are as follows (dollars in millions, except per share data):
| Three Months Ended | Twelve Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
| July 31 | July 31 | ||||||||||||||
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2011
|
2010
|
Change
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2011
|
2010
|
Change
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| Net sales | $625 | $515 | 21 | % | $2,294 | $1,877 | 22 | % | |||||||
| Operating income | 90 | 75 | 21 | % | 315 | 238 | 32 | % | |||||||
| Net earnings | 66 | 51 | 29 | % | 225 | 166 | 36 | % | |||||||
| Diluted EPS | $0.84 | $0.65 | 29 | % | $2.87 | $2.10 | 37 | % | |||||||
“We are very pleased to report that we had a very good 4th quarter with all-time quarterly sales and EPS records. We also delivered full year records on key operating metrics including sales, operating margins, and net earnings,” said Bill Cook, Chairman, President and CEO. “We saw strength in both of our reporting segments as Engine and Industrial Products sales increased 26 percent and 15 percent over the prior year, respectively. Our operating margin was 14.4 percent in the fourth quarter and a record 13.7 percent for the year. We are executing very well in our manufacturing plants and distribution centers and continue to make both capital and operating investments which, along with our Continuous Improvement initiatives, position us to profitably support our Customers’ global growth plans.”
“Over the past four weeks, there have been many reports of a slowdown in global growth rates and the increased possibility of another recession. However, our current order trends remain healthy and, consequently, we continue to forecast that our sales will grow 7 to 15 percent in FY12. However, we will remain very vigilant and will quickly modify our plans if conditions change. Through our continued execution of our Strategic Growth Plans and by focusing on those things we can control, we forecast delivering another sales record and record EPS performance of between $3.15 and $3.45 per share in FY12.”
Financial Statement Discussion
The impact of foreign currency translation increased sales by $40.3 million, or 7.8 percent, during the fourth quarter and $49.8 million, or 2.7 percent, for the year. The impact of foreign currency translation increased reported net earnings by $4.0 million, or 7.7 percent, during the fourth quarter and $6.1 million, or 3.6 percent, for the year.
Gross margin was 36.3 percent for the quarter, equal to last year’s fourth quarter, and 35.5 percent for the year, 40 basis points better than last year’s 35.1 percent. Increases in purchased raw material and freight costs were offset by better fixed cost absorption and our Continuous Improvement initiatives.
Operating expenses for the quarter were $137.0 million, or 21.9 percent of sales, versus $112.4 million, or 21.8 percent of sales, last year. Operating expenses for the year were $498.5 million, or 21.7 percent of sales, compared to $420.5 million, or 22.4 percent of sales, last year.
The effective tax rate for the quarter was 27.3 percent, compared to a prior year rate of 29.5 percent. The current quarter included $2.6 million of tax benefits primarily from the expiration of some statutes of limitation and the favorable impact of dividends from some foreign subsidiaries. For the year, the effective tax rate was 27.9 percent compared to a prior year rate of 27.8 percent.
As part of our ongoing share repurchase program we repurchased 1,157,000 shares for $65.8 million during the quarter. For the year, we repurchased 1,957,000 shares, or 2.5 percent of our diluted outstanding shares, for $108.9 million.
FY12 Outlook
We expect continued expansion in many of our end markets, with higher growth in emerging economies. We are planning our FY12 sales to be between $2.45 and $2.60 billion, or up about 7 to 15 percent from the prior year. Our current forecast is based on the Euro at US$1.42 and 81 Yen to the US$.
Our full year operating margin is forecasted to be 13.7 to 14.5 percent.
Our full year FY12 tax rate is anticipated to be between 28 and 30 percent.
We forecast our full year FY12 EPS to be between $3.15 and $3.45.
Cash generated by operating activities is projected to be between $275 and $305 million in FY12. Capital spending is estimated to be approximately $100 million.
Engine Products: We expect full year sales to increase 8 to 15 percent, including the impact of foreign currency translation.
We anticipate sales to our agricultural, mining, and construction equipment OEM Customers to grow at a more moderate pace in FY12 compared to FY11’s growth rate of 47 percent. We will also continue to benefit from increased market share on our Customers’ new Tier IV equipment platforms.
In our On-Road Products’ business, we believe that build rates for heavy- and medium-duty trucks at our OEM Customers will be higher than FY11 levels but grow at a more normal rate than last year’s 55 percent growth rate.
Sales of our Aftermarket Products are expected to remain strong based on current utilization rates for both off-road equipment and on-road heavy trucks. We should also benefit as our distribution networks continue to expand in the emerging economies and from the increasing number of systems installed in the field with our proprietary filtration systems.
We forecast modest sales gains in Aerospace and Defense Products for FY12 as the continued slowdown in military spending is anticipated to be offset by increased commercial aerospace sales.
Industrial Products: We forecast full year sales to increase 7 to 15 percent, including the impact of foreign currency translation.
Our Industrial Filtration Solutions’ sales are projected to increase 7 to 14 percent assuming demand for new filtration equipment and replacement filters both continue to improve with increased global general industrial capital activity and spending.
We anticipate our Gas Turbine Products’ sales to be up 14 to 22 percent due to an improvement in the power generation market and ongoing strength in the oil and gas market segment.
Special Applications Products’ sales are forecast to increase 2 to 9 percent primarily due to growing sales of our membranes products.
About Donaldson Company
Donaldson is a leading worldwide provider of filtration systems that improve people’s lives, enhance our Customers’ equipment performance, and protect our environment. We are a technology-driven Company committed to satisfying our Customers’ needs for filtration solutions through innovative research and development, application expertise, and global presence. Our over 13,000 employees contribute to the Company’s success by supporting our Customers at our more than 100 sales, manufacturing, and distribution locations around the world.
Donaldson is a member of the S&P MidCap 400 and Russell 1000 indices, and our shares trade on the NYSE under the symbol DCI. Additional information is available at www.donaldson.com.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES REFORM ACT OF 1995
The Company desires to take advantage of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”) and is making this cautionary statement in connection with such safe harbor legislation. This announcement contains forward-looking statements, including forecasts, plans, and projections relating to our business and financial performance and global economic conditions, which involve uncertainties that could materially impact results.
The Company wishes to caution investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to uncertainties and other risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements, including but not limited to risks associated with: world economic factors and the ongoing economic uncertainty, reduced demand for hard disk drive products with the increased use of flash memory, the potential for some Customers to increase their reliance on their own filtration capabilities, currency fluctuations, commodity prices, political factors, the Company’s international operations, highly competitive markets, governmental laws and regulations including the impact of various economic stimulus and financial reform measures, the implementation of our new information technology systems, potential global events resulting in market instability including financial bailouts of sovereign nations, political changes, military and terrorist activities, health outbreaks, and other factors included in our Annual and Quarterly Reports. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.
Source: Donaldson Company
Contact:
Donaldson Company, Inc.
Rich Sheffer, 952-887-3753
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