Anixter Q1 Profit Rises

(RTTNews) - Anixter International Inc. (AXE) reported that its net income for the first-quarter increased to $32.1 million from $30.9 million last year. Earnings per share were $0.94 up from $0.91 last year.

Excluding items, adjusted net income of $39.7 million compares to $37.0 million last year. Adjusted earnings per share was $1.16 compared to $1.09 in the prior year.

Sales were $2.0 billion for the quarter ended March 30, 2018, a 3.6% increase versus the prior year quarter. Organic sales increased 1.6%, excluding the impact of the following items: $10.3 million favorable impact from the higher average price of copper; $28.3 million favorable impact from the fluctuation in foreign currencies.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.3 per share and revenues of $1.98 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company said it agreed to acquire security businesses in Australia and New Zealand for about $151 million, dependent on the foreign exchange rate of USD versus the AUD and NZ dollar at closing, and subject to customary post-closing working capital and other adjustments.

"As we look ahead to the second quarter and full year, we remain cautiously optimistic regarding sales growth even with the difficulty in predicting the timing of major projects. Momentum in our day-to-day business remains steady, we are in the early stages of a recovery in our large project business in NSS, and growth trends in our EES and UPS businesses remain solid," said Bill Galvin, President and Chief Operating Officer.

The company estimates second quarter 2018 organic sales growth in the 2.0 - 3.0% range. For the full year 2018, it continues to estimate organic sales growth of 2.0 - 5.0%, cash flow from operations of $180 - $200 million and capital expenditures of $60 - $70 million.