Valspar Shares Up 7% On Strong Results - Update

(RTTNews) - Shares of Valspar Corp. (VAL) jumped seven percent after the paint maker's profit for the first quarter trumped Wall Street's expectations, due mainly to more-than expected growth in revenues. Nonetheless, net income for the quarter dropped from a year ago, hurt largely by restructuring charges.

The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company's first-quarter profit dropped to $53.55 million or $0.61 per share from $55.03 million or $0.60 per share last year. The company recorded after-tax restructuring charges of $7.58 million for the quarter.

Excluding the restructuring charges, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $61.13 million or $0.70 per share. On average, 14 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.66 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

First-quarter revenues grew 9 percent to $956.12 million from $875.24 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $948.61 million for the quarter.

Chief Executive Gary Hendrickson said, "We saw strong growth in both our Paints and Coatings segments, reflecting the benefits of new business wins, acquisitions and productivity improvements. We remain focused on executing our significant new business initiatives and productivity plans to drive growth in fiscal 2014."

Paints sales advanced 10 percent to $361 million, reflecting volume growth in the U.S., China and improving volume in Australia. Coatings segment also improved 10 percent to $549 million, helped by acquisitions and the continued growth of wood product line.

Looking forward to 2014, the company reaffirmed its adjusted earnings guidance of $3.95 to $4.15 per share. The Street currently expects full-year 2014 earnings of $4.06 per share.

VAL is currently trading at $75.57, up $4.98 or 7.05%, on a volume of 0.8 million shares, on the NYSE.