Crane co. reports first quarter results and reaffirms full-year
guidance
Stamford, conn.--(business wire)--crane co. (nyse: cr), a diversified manufacturer of highly engineered industrial products, reported first quarter 2019 gaap earnings per diluted share (eps) of $1.36, compared to $1.13 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2018. excluding special items, first quarter 2019 eps increased 11% to $1.45, compared to $1.31 in the first quarter of 2018. (please see the attached non-gaap financial measures tables for a detailed reconciliation of reported results to adjusted measures.) first quarter 2019 sales were $832 million, an increase of 4% compared to the first quarter of 2018. the sales increase was comprised of $46 million, or 6%, from core growth and a $7 million, or 1%, benefit from net acquisitions, partially offset by $20 million, or 3%, of unfavorable foreign exchange. first quarter 2019 operating profit was $114 million, an increase of 21% compared to $94 million in the first quarter of 2018. operating profit margin of 13.7% compared to 11.8% last year. excluding special items, first quarter 2019 operating profit was $120 million, an increase of 12% compared to $107 million in the first quarter of 2018. excluding special items, operating profit margin of 14.4% compared to 13.4% last year. (please see the attached non-gaap financial measures tables for a detailed reconciliation of reported results to adjusted measures.) max mitchell, crane co. president and chief executive officer commented: "we had a strong start to the year, with operating results slightly better than expected. all of our businesses are performing well, and we continue to execute on our growth initiatives, as well as productivity and repositioning activities." first quarter 2019 segment results all comparisons detailed in this section refer to operating results for the first quarter 2019 versus the first quarter 2018. fluid handling sales increased $7 million, or 3%, driven by $17 million, or 6%, of core growth, partially offset by $10 million, or 4%, of unfavorable foreign exchange. operating margin increased to 12.5%, compared to 10.5% last year, primarily reflecting productivity, operating leverage on higher volumes, and repositioning benefits. excluding special items, operating margin increased to 13.3%, a 250 basis point increase compared to 10.8% last year. fluid handling order backlog was $285 million at march 31, 2019, $280 million at december 31, 2018, and $281 million at march 31, 2018. payment & merchandising technologies sales increased $11 million, or 4%, driven by $14 million, or 5%, of core growth and a $7 million, or 2%, benefit from net acquisitions, partially offset by $10 million, or 3%, of unfavorable foreign exchange. operating margin improved to 14.2%, from 12.5% last year, primarily reflecting lower acquisition related expenses, benefits from repositioning, and operating leverage on higher volumes, partially offset by unfavorable mix and the timing of certain costs. excluding special items, operating margins of 15.4% declined from 16.5% last year, primarily reflecting unfavorable mix and the timing of certain costs, partially offset by operating leverage on higher volumes. aerospace & electronics sales increased $24 million, or 14%, driven by higher core sales. operating margin improved to 23.0%, from 20.1% last year, primarily reflecting operating leverage on higher volumes and productivity. excluding special items, operating margin improved to 23.3%, from 20.2% last year. aerospace & electronics order backlog was $487 million at march 31, 2019, $447 million at december 31, 2018, and $381 million at march 31, 2018. engineered materials sales decreased $10 million, or 14%, driven primarily by lower sales to recreational vehicle customers. operating margin declined to 15.8%, from 17.8%, primarily reflecting lower volumes. reaffirming full year 2019 guidance we are reaffirming our full year 2019 gaap eps guidance in a range of $6.05-$6.25. excluding special items, full year 2019 eps guidance is $6.25-$6.45. sales for 2019 are expected to be approximately $3.3 billion, reflecting a slight decline in core sales and an unfavorable foreign exchange impact of approximately 2%. full year 2019 free cash flow (cash provided by operating activities less capital spending) is expected to be in a range of $335 million to $365 million. (please see the attached non-gaap financial measures tables.) additional information additional information with respect to the company’s asbestos liability and related accounting provisions and cash requirements is set forth in the current report on form 8-k filed with a copy of this press release. conference call crane co. has scheduled a conference call to discuss the first quarter financial results on tuesday, april 30, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. (eastern). all interested parties may listen to a live webcast of the call at http://www.craneco.com. an archived webcast will also be available to replay this conference call directly from the company’s website under investors, events & presentations. slides that accompany the conference call will be available on the company’s website. crane co. is a diversified manufacturer of highly engineered industrial products. founded in 1855, crane co. provides products and solutions to customers in the chemicals, oil & gas, power, automated payment solutions, banknote design and production and aerospace & defense markets, along with a wide range of general industrial and consumer related end markets. the company has four business segments: fluid handling, payment & merchandising technologies, aerospace & electronics and engineered materials. crane co. has approximately 12,000 employees in the americas, europe, the middle east, asia and australia. crane co. is traded on the new york stock exchange (nyse:cr). for more information, visit www.craneco.com. this press release may contain forward-looking statements as defined by the private securities litigation reform act of 1995. these statements are based on the management’s current beliefs, expectations, plans, assumptions and objectives regarding crane co.’s future financial performance and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. any discussions contained in this press release, except to the extent that they contain historical facts, are forward-looking and accordingly involve estimates, assumptions, judgments and uncertainties. there are a number of factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those addressed in these forward-looking statements. such factors are detailed in the company’s annual report on form 10-k for the fiscal year ended december 31, 2018 and subsequent reports filed with the securities and exchange commission. such reports are available on the securities exchange commission’s website (www.sec.gov). crane co. does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements. (financial tables follow) $ $ supplemental data: march 31, 2019 december 31, 2018 three months ended march 31, june 30,2018 march 31,2018 crane co. three months endedmarch 31, percentchangemarch 31,2019 threemonths income items 113.7 13.7 special items impacting operating profit: — 1.1 5.3 14.4 special items impacting net income attributable to common shareholders: — 0.9 4.2 — 1.4 0.8 — — three months endedmarch 31, segment information: fluidhandling payment &merchandisingtechnologies aerospace&electronics engineeredmaterials totalcompany fluidhandling payment &merchandisingtechnologies aerospace&electronics engineeredmaterials totalcompany cash flow items three months endedmarch 31, 2019 full year guidance cash provided by operating activities before asbestos-related payments
