Actuant Slashes Profit Outlook As Energy Market Remains 'difficult'

Actuant Corp. slashed Wednesday its fiscal 2017 adjusted earnings-per-share outlook to a range of 82 cents to 87 cents from a previous range of $1.10 to $1.20, as lower energy maintenance volumes and an unfavorable sales mix are expected to weight on margins. The FactSet EPS consensus was 99 cents. The diversified industrial company now expects fiscal 2017 revenue of $1.08 billion to $1.09 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $1.09 billion. For the fiscal third quarter to May 31, the company reported a net profit of $22.5 million, or 37 cents a share, up from $21.2 million, or 36 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted EPS was 32 cents, matching the FactSet consensus. Revenue fell to $295.4 million from $305.3 million, but was above the FactSet consensus of $294 million. "We had many positive market and strategy execution advancements in the third quarter, but they were not able to offset the difficult conditions that persist within the global energy market," said Chief Executive Randy Baker. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has tumbled 11% year to date through Tuesday, while the SPDR Industrial Select Sector ETF has climbed 9.9% and the S&P 500 has gained 8.9%.