Archive and Content Search
On Friday, Quanex Building Products Corp. reported a profit of $5 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 despite a drop in revenue from the same period last year.
The Houston-based maker of door and window components reported net income of 13 cents per share for the quarter that ended on October 31. According to Zacks Investment Research, most Wall Street analysts had expected earnings of 20 cents per share.
Net sales for Quanex slipped to $163.8 million from $166.8 million a year earlier. Most analysts had expected sales of $173.2 million.
In the third quarter, which ended on July 31, the company’s sales increased 8.4 percent to $170 million versus $157 million for the same period in 2013.
Wall Street reacted negatively to the news on Friday: The price of the company’s stock fell 8 percent to $18.31 per share. Quanex had climbed 14 percent during the previous 12 months, according to Zacks Investment Research.
The company doesn’t expect business conditions to improve in the new fiscal year.
“For fiscal 2015, Quanex anticipates a slow start, with sluggish growth through the winter months, coupled with a continued drag on earnings from its vinyl business during the first half of 2015,” reads a company statement.
Despite the fourth-quarter setback, fiscal 2014 was a good year for Quanex, CEO Bill Griffiths says.
“2014 was a successful year for Quanex. Revenues and EBITDA increased 7.3 percent and 38.7 percent, respectively, compared to 2013 results, the highest level since the spin-off of Quanex Building Products Corporation in 2008,” Griffiths says. “Despite a sputtering housing recovery, and a $20 million EBITDA drag on earnings from our vinyl profile business, we made good progress in 2014 and are well positioned for the future. All of our other operations are performing at a high level and managed to offset some of the shortfall in the vinyl business.” says Griffiths.
The company’s 2014 income from continuing operations was $8.3 million, compared to a loss from continuing operations of $12.4 million in 2013. 2014 EBITDA was $48.1 million compared to $34.7 million in 2013.
