Armstrong Worldwide Announces Plans To Split In Two, Reports Mixed Results

Armstrong World Industries said on Monday that it plans to separate its flooring and ceilings businesses into two separate, publicly-traded companies. The separation, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2016, is part of its continuing plan to return value to shareholders. Separately, Armstrong reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 38 cents on revenue of $587.3 million, compared with the FactSet consensus analyst estimates of 26 cents and $624 million, respectively, as all of its businesses in the Americas suffered from lower volumes. For 2015, the company expects adjusted EPS in the range of $2.05 to $2.45 and revenue of $2.53 billion to $2.63 billion, compared with analyst forecasts of $2.35 and $2.68 billion, respectively. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has gained 8.1% over the past three months, outperforming the S&P 500's 2.3% rise.