Menomonee Falls-based Actuant Corp. today reported fiscal second quarter net earnings of $28.4 million, or 38 cents per share, down from $32.2 million, or 43 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
The company’s consolidated sales for the second quarter were $370 million, 2 percent lower than the comparable prior year quarter.
Robert Arzbaecher, chairman and chief executive officer of Actuant, said, “We delivered results for the second quarter at the high end of our sales and EPS guidance. During the normally seasonally weak quarter, we experienced generally subdued activity in the global industrial markets reflecting both cautious spending and continued destocking initiatives by OEM customers. While economic conditions remain weak in most end markets and regions, we have kept our organization agile and are anticipating both seasonal and core growth in the second half of the fiscal year. I want to thank our global team for their solid execution in the quarter.”
Commenting on Actuant’s outlook, Arzbaecher said, “When we initially provided our fiscal 2013 guidance, we expected that our first half results would be lower than the prior year, with growth resuming in the back half. Now at the mid-point of the year, we believe we are at this inflection point with the most difficult comparisons behind us. We are seeing indications that market conditions have bottomed and are firming up in some areas, yet inconsistency and uncertainty also persist. As a result, we expect the demand improvement curve to be less steep and modestly pushed out further in calendar 2013 compared to our original expectations.”
